Women in Dairy, a new national platform for networking and knowledge transfer has been launched jointly by the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers and Promar International a Genus plc company, and supported by DairyCo.
 
The new network which is designed to bring together all women working in the dairy industry will also offer the opportunity for exchanging knowledge and experiences to develop skills and confidence, encouraging innovative thinking and vision for the future of British dairy and generating camaraderie - supporting women in dairy to achieve and celebrate success.
 
Women in Dairy will feature regional groups throughout Britain, each with their own facilitator supplied by DairyCo or Promar International. RABDF will nationally co-ordinate the initiative and its activities including an annual conference.
 
The network has been established following a feasibility study carried out by Promar International and gaining support from RABDF’s Foundation for Collaboration, the initiative funded by Government’s Dairy Fund package. Pilot groups have already been successfully launched in Cheshire and the South West, whilst interest has already been expressed to establish groups in other regions.
 
RABDF national co-ordinator, Emily Egan said: “We are delighted to launch Women in Dairy which has three clearly defined objectives to connect, share and inspire, together with camaraderie for all women working within the sector. Similar groups are flourishing both in Australia and New Zealand, and our research and pilot groups both have confirmed the real enthusiasm for such a new initiative in  Great Britain.
 
“We look forward to establishing regional groups, each with a broad spectrum of membership and providing each member with the opportunity to develop their skills and resources. Our national annual conference will provide further opportunities, together with a strong social media platform.”
 
DairyCo’s Becky Miles commented: “This ground breaking initiative, through exemplary collaboration within industry, will provide a service that  brings together women from varied backgrounds with differing levels of farming experience by offering support for development so that they can achieve success within their respective dairy businesses.”
 
Promar International’s Lisa Williams said: “Our Cheshire pilot group has attracted huge support from women in dairy, as well as stakeholders, such as representatives from colleges, feed supply companies and banks. We have over 40 attendees, representing over 4,000 dairy cows in the Cheshire and surrounding area.  Already we have staged meetings discussing global impacts on the dairy industry and promotional effort within the sector which members have embraced with passion and determination.
 
“Such is the group’s success, we have received initial interest from women working in dairying to establish a group in north Wales and we are also exploring opportunities to develop a group in south Wales.”