International conference on dairy farming and climate change

Edinburgh, Scotland, June 25-27, 2008

Like most businesses today agriculture needs to consider its contribution to the climate change. At the same time the increasing global temperature presents a fundamental threat to millions of farmers and food production all over the world.

In a joint effort to tackle climate change and further increase sustainable practices, International Dairy Federation UK and DeLaval have come together to organise the “First IDF Dairy Farming Summit” under the theme “Climate change - the Heat is on.”

The event is entirely devoted to global warming, its impact on dairy farming and how dairy farming affects the environment. Topics that will be discussed include climate change, pollution, deforestation, water shortage and energy use. Dairy producers from 40 countries will actively participate in defining the problems and identifying feasible solutions that can improve their businesses through interactive panel discussions.
“Our aim is to give the dairy producers some practical, hands on advice on what they can do to reduce environmental impact as part of their daily routines. We all have a responsibility when it comes to these questions and we can contribute one way or the other”, says the Chairman of the organizing committee, David Homer – a dairy farmer himself.

Day one, June 25th, will be spent setting the global scene and feature five films of dairy farmers from different countries describing the particular characteristics in their countries. They will cover: energy source and usage, USA, water access and usage, Egypt, climate change and global warming, Netherlands, contamination and pollution, China, and biodiversity and deforestation, Brazil.

Day two, June 26th, will comprise panel discussions where the subjects will be dealt with in more detail.

All delegates will also visit the Acrehead and Crichton Dairy Units at the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) Dairy Research Farm at Dumfries on the final day, June 27th,  to see how these issues impact on the life of dairy farmer first-hand and identify actions that farmers can take to take to ensure that dairy farming has a sustainable and profitable future for the long term.

This summit offers dairy producers an opportunity to discuss one of the hottest issues today – food production and climate change. Be a part of the solution and register to participate today.

For preliminary programme, click here>>

For more information about the event and to register please visit the Summit website at:  www.eventsforce.net/idfdfs

For more information on the First IDF Dairy Farming Summit, please contact:
Claire Bowley – Director: Dynamic Conferences & Events Ltd
E-mail: claire.bowley@dynamic-events.co.uk  
Phone:  +44 (0)1797 223626