Ever wondered whether milk pasteurised and packed directly at your farm could help avoid the dependency on volatile milk prices currently faced by many farms?  Direct Dairy, a Dutch start-up focusing on Ag-Tech and Food-Tech think their breakthrough concept could do just that.  Talking in more detail at Dairy-Tech on 6 February they will explain how, by cutting out the processor, farms could allow themselves to produce this premium consumer product to a standard where they could sell directly from their farm to businesses and consumers.

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RABDF managing director Matt Knight says whilst Dairy-Tech will host a number of more familiar on-farm innovations such as genomics, rapid diagnostics, what the future of forage looks like and how to improve feed efficiency, it also has some fantastic ground-breaking concepts from virtual reality to revolutionary labelling and robots.

“We have shaped the Dairy-Tech event model to stimulate thinking and ensure the dairy industry is open to a whole host of technological ideas that will eventually shape the future of all businesses in the sector.

“For example, whilst virtual reality isn’t a concept widely used in the sector we hope to be able to demonstrate its potential role on-farm and get businesses thinking about the benefits it could bring – could it be an efficient way of providing training, could it be the answer to hands-free machinery servicing and does it have the potential to link with drones when it comes to field mapping.”

Innovation-focused company Mimica will explain how their new labelling system is set to contribute to combating some of Britain’s waste problem.  These highly technological labels have the ability to detect the freshness of perishable food products, such as milk, through its calibration – designed to degrade at the same rate as food whilst adjusting to conditions along the way.

As well as a jam-packed innovation hub and over 50 new products, the dairy hub will focus on a range of topics from risk mitigation, to keeping milk relevant to consumers, applied genomics, and whether we can deliver the Clean Air Strategy.  Further sessions include young people and staff retention, future regulation of dairy contracts and Brexit outlooks.

To ensure no practical elements are missed, hoof trimming demonstrations will once again take place with Steve Hookway delivering knife and grinder techniques, however, for the first time, we will also be introducing thermal imaging and its role in detecting lameness.

Full speaker timetables can be found online alongside information on new products.  Tickets are £17 when booked in advance at www.dairy-tech.uk and free for RABDF members.  Those wishing to join can sign up at www.rabdf.co.uk