Beef will once again feature at the Dairy Event, Europe's two day premier event to be staged at Stoneleigh Park, Coventry on Wednesday 20 and Thursday 21 September. Called Beef from the Dairy Herd, this large scale practical exhibition sponsored by EBLEX is designed to offer all farmers information and advice on how they can add value to their own resources - their cull cows and Holstein bulls, as well as Continental cross bred calves.

The recent ending of the Over Thirty Month Scheme coupled with the lifting of the European export ban on beef and live animals have introduced welcome opportunities for all dairy farmers. Cull cows marketed in the correct condition are achieving new realistic prices and calf values have at least doubled in the last 12 months. In addition, finished dairy bulls have enjoyed the strengthening trend in prime cattle prices.

The EBLEX sponsored exhibition is designed to help dairy producers exploit these new opportunities and achieve even better returns through improved cull cow marketing and calf breeding. EBLEX's displays and demonstrations will include identifying cull cow grades to match specific markets; using Estimated Breeding Values to select the most suitable terminal sire and butchery techniques to highlight the extra effort required to trim fat versus lean cuts of beef. The exhibition will also feature a comprehensive turn out of beef breed societies, nutrition and animal health companies.

"Beef from the Dairy Herd is a very timely exhibition," says Nick Everington, chief executive of the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers, organizers of the Dairy Event. "While farm gate milk prices continue to fall and the UK remains firmly at the bottom of the EU milk price league table for the eighth consecutive year, the recent changes in the beef sector have brought a welcome boost to dairy incomes," he explains. "Dairy farmers have started to understand and trust the new emerging market places, both domestic and overseas, adopt a new mindset and pay even greater attention to detail. Beef from the Dairy Herd will provide them with that necessary decision making information and help them to further develop their marketing skills."