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Ever since a Large Herds Conference was first mooted for South Africa during the
latter part of 1998,there has been a growing interest from farmers and industry alike
both here and overseas.
News spread fast and requests for more information are received from several
European countries, North America and several from New Zealand.
Since the first conference in 1999, several overseas delegates have attended the
five conferences held to date, the last one being from 19-12 February 2007 at the
Mentorskraal, Jeffreys Bay, Eastern Cape. Amongst these were a number of internationally
acclaimed dairy academics and scientists, some of whom took part in the event, amongst them
Professor Warren Parker, General Manager of Agresearch, New Zealand; Basil Doonan, Davey and
Maynard Agricultural Consulting; Prof Paul Fricke of Madison University in Wisconsin, USA and
Prof Bill Fulkerson, Professor of Dairy Science, University of Sydney, Australia. The fifth
South African Large Herds conference was the most successful to date, with many delegates having
to be turned away, while over 500 attended the conference. The biggest challenge facing the
organising committee is finding a big enough venue!
A Large Herds Conference takes an holistic approach to dairy farming, concentrating
on issues peculiar to the large herds operator. Topics such as Systems Management,
Strategies for change, Operations Management, Market Trends, Environmental and Technological
Trends, Finance and Taxation, Human Resource Management, Motivation and Lifestyle
are addressed.
These conferences are for progressive dairy farmers serious about their business.
However, the conferences are not all work – braais, safaris, gala dinners, farm visits,
etc are the order of the day.
This event gives South Africa a unique opportunity to join a select group in the
farming community and also benefit from the most up-to-date information available.
Delegates from leading dairy farming areas around the world regularly share knowledge
and information on techniques and technology that are of enormous benefit to local
farmers.
The aim of the conferences is to put participants in the position to, after the
conference, take away a strategic business plan for their own farms, based on their
own individual circumstances and needs. This is achieved by creating one-on-one
interaction during the conference in the form of break-away groups facilitated
by the various experts who participate in the conference.
CenDel (Centre for Producer Development) of the MPO is responsible for all arrangements of the conference.
For any inquiries contact
~ Julie McLachlan
at tel 012 843 5745 or 083 740 2720; Fax: +27 (0) 86 523 4652, or e-mail:julie@cendel.co.za or juliemac@pixie.co.za.
The conference is sponsored by |
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as well as |
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