An annual campaign will put a spotlight on the progress being made by the dairy industry to ensure all dairy-bred calves are reared with care and for a purpose.
Great British Calf Week, from 13-20 September, will showcase interactive events hosted by industry stakeholders, ranging from farm open days to panel sessions, podcasts and webinars.
The week-long campaign for 2023 will focus around two themes: dairy beef genetics and TB calves.
The week aims to celebrate the progress that the industry has made since the launch of the GB Dairy Calf Strategy in 2020.
Since the launch of the strategy three years ago, strides have been made across the supply chain to implement breeding strategies which rear all healthy calves ‘with care and for a purpose’.
This includes an increase in the use of sexed dairy semen, from 31.9% in 2019 to 76.5% in 2023.
In the run up to this year’s event, NFU dairy board chair, Michael Oakes said: “As an industry, we have seen significant progress under the GB Calf Strategy.
“Since 2020, there have been a number of commitments made across both the beef and dairy supply chains to better integrate the two, and help ensure, as dairy farmers, we are rearing calves with an end market in mind.
“As we approach the end of the initiative’s final year, we need to continue working together to identify market opportunities and help ensure we are maximising the value of each calf to optimise returns.”
At the outset of the GB Calf Strategy, a Bovine bTB Subgroup was established to help increase access for TB restricted cattle into licenced TB units.
The group, comprising the NFU, NFU Cymru, Defra, APHA, Welsh government, and representatives from the dairy and beef supply chains, have worked to try to overcome some of the red tape and barriers impacting producers affected by TB.
Great British Calf Week will begin at UK Dairy Day in Telford with a breakfast launch on the NFU stand H119 at 9am followed by two seminar sessions later in the day.
