The “opportunity of a lifetime” is on offer to one British dairy farmer as Alltech finalises the delegate list for the inaugural Global Dairy 500 conference that takes place in Kentucky, USA, from 10 to 12 September 2008.

Dairy farmers attending Alltech’s Global Dairy 500 conference
this September will see US milk production at close quarters
and will have the chance to review their businesses alongside some of the best operators from around the world.

The company is offering to pay flights and accommodation for the dairy farmer who makes the strongest case for being selected to attend this unprecedented gathering of industry leaders, but applications are required no later than 10 August.

As Alltech’s UK Business General Manager Ian Leach explains, the conference will provide an opportunity to debate the major issues alongside the most progressive professional milk producers in the world, and is an opportunity not to be missed.

“The event will cover nutrition and health, business planning and milk branding as well as wider challenges such as climate change and biofuels,” he explains. “It will be three days packed with stimulating debate and a real chance for those attending to review and plan their future dairy farming strategies. There will also be ample opportunity during the event to sample all that is special about Alltech and its home state of Kentucky.”

Notes:

Alltech’s Global Dairy 500 conference takes place at the Lexington Convention Centre, Lexington, Kentucky, 10-12 September 2008 (UK departure 9 September and return 13 September).

Topics at the Global Dairy 500 Conference will include:

• New Zealand, the "Saudi Arabia of milk." Why is it that this country, once the least cost producer of milk in the world, is now looking to use more concentrates? Why is it that this country is now looking to expand outside New Zealand as they try to cope with the ever-increasing global demand for milk?
  
  
• Faraway fields are green: California - Still the number one milk producing U.S. state with some 1.8 million cows. How is it that the impact of urbanization is forcing California dairymen to look outside of the state? What is the impact on states such as New Mexico, Idaho, and even Kentucky?
  
  
• Kentucky - A state with over 40,000 square miles but with a dairy population that has dropped from 250,000 cows in 1980 to 90,000 cows in 2008. Is there an opportunity for dairy farmers to (re)establish themselves in Kentucky, where a $250 million deficit in milk production exists? What incentives does the state have? Are permits available? What is the cost of land? What would an economic model of a dairy farm in Kentucky look like?
  
  
• Business plan of a dairy: What bankers look for in a dairy business plan - the ten critical success factors that determine success?
  
  
• Milk 'the new oil.' Fact or fiction? - Is there a global milk shortage?
  
  
• Milk and society: Branding milk at consumer level - How do we add value and move closer to the consumer?
  
  
• Animal rights: Tackling the issue before it tackles our industry.
  
  
• The Greenest Generation - Bio-fuels boom or bust?
  
  
• Improving milk quality, hoof health, and the number of lactations - Bridging the gap between animal nutrition and health.
  
  
• The global dairy industry - From 10,000 litres per cow annually in the U.S. to 4,000 litres in New Zealand. Is yield per cow important? Where does profitability come in?
  
  
• Land and fuel - Silage and forage are still the critical factors, the essence of any dairy farm?
  
  
• Climate change and air pollution - What do they mean for the dairy farmer? Legislative changes and their implications.
  
  
• Are subsidies a necessary evil or an impediment to market forces?
  
  
• Value added opportunity from sports drinks to nutritionally active ingredients. What's to be learned from the Tatua Cooperative in New Zealand? How this smaller cooperative became one of the majors by adding value.

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