The strength of support for the dairy industry was evident at this year's Dairy Event and Livestock Show, with an increase in both visitor and exhibitor numbers.
The event staged at The NEC in Birmingham this week built on the huge success of its inaugural event at the venue held in 2010.
Nick Everington, chief executive of the RABDF, who organised the show, said: "The event was buzzing throughout and we were thoroughly pleased by the industry's positive response to our developments to the event during the past two years. This was reflected in trade stand space increasing by 32% and visitor numbers up 10% – all at a time when the number of UK dairy producers has declined by 8%.
"Furthermore, the event has achieved a 42% increase in visitor attendance over the past eight years."
Exhibitors, both indoors and outdoors, were busy throughout the two days, with many reporting quality enquiries and record levels of business achieved as visitors poured in to The NEC, travelling by car, train and plane. "We were also pleased with our new international visitors lounge, which attracted visitors from 27 countries," said Mr Everington.
"In addition, visitors were keen to take home new information and advice from the new RABDF Business Debates and New Smithfield workshops, along with the Feed Science Forums and Farm Health Planning seminars, all of which could be readily applied to visitors' farming systems the following day."
Outdoors, the new silage chopper feeders and cubicle bedder demonstrations proved to be popular, enabling farmers to make comparisons of equipment available and subsequently make more informed buying decisions, he said.
dairynews