Featherston to host annual booktown festival
The annual Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival – a fusion of books and storytelling - celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.
The association was founded as network of experienced ruminant nutritionists to provide a means by which they can disseminate their knowledge to industry.
Members consist of a diverse group of professionals including nutritionists, researchers and veterinarians, working independently and in corporate capacities from across the agriculture industry.
Following the success of the 2015 conference in the North Island the decision was made to bring the conference down to the South Island to enable more people to attend.
Held in Canterbury's dairying heartland at the Ashburton Hotel on February 24, conference attendees will be able to hear from eight speakers during the one day seminar.
Topics covered by NZARN include aspects of grazing, feed intake, feeds, feeding and efficient utilisation to optimise performance.
Sessions include:
◦ How to get cows to eat more by Charlotte Westwood.
◦ Diurnal grazing pattern: its understanding and strategic management by Pablo Gregorini.
◦ How to get the best value out of forages by Jakob Kleinmans.
◦ Ensuring your silage is fit for purpose by Trish Lewis.
◦ Growing great cows: rearing heifers from weaning to calving by Natalie Chrystal.
◦ Condition management – how does it help fertility by Nigel Meads.
◦ Nutrition and management of close up dry cows – taking good care of our springers by Andrea Murphy.
◦ Feeding supplements and practical feed balancing by Julian Waters.
All of the speakers have extensive knowledge and experience and are considered industry leaders in their fields. A common desire amongst all of the speakers is a goal to help farmers maximize profitability from their farms.
For instance speaker Andrea Murphy, after having moved to Central Otago from Canada and setting up her nutrition consulting business there, was one of the finalists in the Dairy Women of the Year 2015 competition.
The farmers conference will be followed by a members-only conference and AGM the next day, which has all of the speakers from the day before and two extra presentations on farm systems and an insight into dairy farming in Sweden.
