British Cattle Breeders Club Conference: Making science and innovation count on farm

The importance of collaboration and an open mindset was an underlying focus of the conference, with topics including the importance of connecting research with practical farming, encouraging the use of technology and the importance of bringing the industry together to drive it forward.

Sarah Haire, head of agriculture at Dunbia, gave an overview of some of the company's projects which are aimed at enhancing beef sustainability, but she said that her major concern was a lack of effective knowledge transfer.

She said: "We have a huge amount of data and information, but the challenge is how do we get that in a targeted way to the right people."

Dunbia has invested in ‘Farm Green' to share information with its 40,000 plus suppliers and also partners with AHDB, hosts webinars and support the next generation of farmers.

Mrs Haire said the aim was to share knowledge, not dictate farming practices, by bridging the language gap between scientific research and practical farming.

She said: "So much research is done to tick a box and is put on a shelf. Without knowledge exchange, we cannot get the buy-in from the rest of the supply chain that we need."

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Impact of science

Echoing a similar theme, Dr Craig Lewis of PIC Genetic Services, said: "Science only matters when it has impact on farm.

"The next 25 years of food production are the most important there will ever be, so we have to drive innovation.

"But we have get away  from ‘it is our way of life'. Agriculture is a business. It is about making money and there is nothing to be ashamed about that fact. We are here to produce quality products for the consumers.

"The world of agriculture is changing and, if we do not understand that, and we do not get more aggressive in terms of driving innovation, then we are not going to be around – the rest of the world will leave us behind.

"The next period of time is massively exciting, the tools becoming available will be game-changers, but we have to make sure that we are prepared to adapt and change and make sure these technologies really impact on our business."

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