Fane Valley Host Calf Health Conference

Fane Valley, one of Ireland’s leading farming cooperatives and agri-specialists, recently hosted their inaugural Veterinary Services Conference focusing on calf health. The event held at Armagh City Hotel, boasted several international and renowned speakers from the world of calf health, calf nutrition and CowSignals®, sharing their scientific and innovative solutions with over 250 farmers in attendance.

The calf health conference covered issues from birth to weaning including colostrum, disinfectants, calf scour, calf pneumonia, milk replacer and calf starter feed. 

Hosted by Mark Little – Fane Valley’s Veterinary Advisor, the content of the conference featured presentations from Tom Barragry – Veterinary Advisor from Provita, Emma Kerrighan – Area Sales Manager, Ruminant from Kersia, Kate Ingram – Veterinary Technical Advisor with Virbac, Peter Howard – Technical Veterinary Advisor at Boehringer Ingelheim, Arjan Meijerink – Area Manager with Denkavit, Laura McConnell – Ruminant Nutritionist at Fane Valley Feeds and Joep Driessen – Owner and Founder of CowSignals® Training Company.

Speaking at the conference, Mark Little, Fane Valley – Veterinary Advisor remarked. “It is reassuring to see our farmers come together to prioritize calf health, a crucial element in protecting the future of their herds. The complete range of topics covered by the speakers truly made this event informative and specific. I truly believe that no other company can cover calf health as complete and as comprehensively as Fane Valley can. Farmers left the conference armed with practical strategies, innovative solutions, and a renewed enthusiasm for optimizing calf health practices on their farms.”

Addressing the conference, Fane Valley, Group Chief Executive – Trevor Lockhart MBE said, “We are delighted to stage our first Veterinary Services Conference and to share the extensive knowledge and experience of our guest speakers. The management of the cow pre-calving and of the calf in the first few hours and weeks of life has a material influence on the lifetime performance of the animal. The conference provided an opportunity to highlight and promote best practice in this area.”

Trevor concluded, “The event also gave us the opportunity to announce and launch AgriAdvance, a new initiative by Fane Valley to deliver a whole farm approach to sustainable agriculture. AgriAdvance brings together our core specialisms to encompass animal nutrition, animal health and soil and plant health to create a more sustainable and prosperous future for our customers.”