Building Sustainability – A Farm Labour Perspective

CAFRE, the Ulster Farmers Union and The Dairy Council NI will be hosting an event on Labour Sustainability on Tuesday 5th December 2023 from 10:30am – 3:00pm in the Millbrook Lodge Hotel, Ballynahinch

This conference will feature innovative and inspiring sessions that will elevate your understanding of trends and technologies relevant to your farm. Regardless of whether you’re a sole operator or a manager of people, the focus will be on development of skills and understanding required to meet the workload requirements of your business. 

Moving forward, future sustainable dairy businesses must be informed, resilient, proactive and efficient. This conference aims to deliver on placing you as the dairy farmer in a position to meet the opportunities and challenges of tomorrow.

This conference is aimed at you!

The event will focus on improving labour productivity from an evolving and diverse workforce, highlighting technologies available as well as considering people and time management on farm. The event will feature CAFRE’s Anna Truesdale on a recent labour study conducted in Co Down, and key-note specialists including, Nollaig Heffernan of Heffernan Consultancy Ltd, Tom Rawson of Evolution Farming Ltd. and Dr Rebecca Orr a practicing Academic GP Registrar. Together they will provide an insight into people management, efficient and sustainable farming systems and looking after the farms number one asset – the farmer.

Agenda:

Speakers:

Nollaig Heffernan

Nollaig is an Independent Management Consultant specialising in Leadership and Organisational Psychology.  She consults across all sectors with businesses from sole traders to multi-nationals on improving their performance through people.  Nollaig has developed a reputation for delivering thought-provoking, relevant, and enjoyable workshops in the Dairy Industry, and frequently speaks at dairy conferences, symposia and on podcasts across Ireland, the UK and Australia.  She is best known for her time management and Employer of Choice workshops.  Nollaig is also regularly invited to contribute her expertise to agricultural steering committees’ agendas at both the micro and industry level. 

Tom Rawson

Tom is married to Catherine and they have three teenage children living and farming in West Yorkshire. Taking over Toms parents 50 cow lifetime tenancy back in 2004 they have developed that into a 240 cow Autumn calving unit. In 2010 Tom co-founded Evolution Farming Ltd with a dairy tenancy in Lincolnshire. This has now grown to milking 3800 cows over 9 individual dairy unit, plus 1000 acres of organic arable and a small beef and sheep enterprise under a variety of agreements. All milk is supplied to Arla through five different contracts. At peak periods like Spring 2023 the business employed 80 full and part time people. Tom is also the current vice chair of the Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust. 

Dr Rebecca Orr

Rebecca is a practising academic GP Registrar with an interest in farmer health, living and working on a North Antrim suckler and sheep farm. Rebecca has conducted significant research within Queen’s University Belfast focused on farmer health having spent time working in both New Zealand and Scotland. Currently Rebecca sits on the steering group for the Farm Family Health Checks team. As a past trustee of Rural Support Rebecca formed the NI Agri-Rural Health Forum. This diverse group is the first of its kind in the UK and RoI where everyone from vets to nurses to bank managers to supply chain representatives can come together to improve human health on farm.