ProCROSS conference
23rd June 2022

Amy has a dual appointment with the ProCROSS Company and with Creative Genetics of California, the US distributor for VikingGenetics and Coopex Montbeliarde. Her role encompasses technical services and education with breeding advisors, sales representatives, and dairy producers. She also directly serves key customers in the upper Midwestern USA.

Since joining ProCROSS and Creative Genetics in 2020, Amy has taken on responsibilities related to research investments of ProCROSS, as well as with the continued development of ProCROSS Rank—the specialized ranking of purebred bulls for the ProCROSS system. She works behind the scenes to identify new ways ProCROSS enhances profit and improves sustainability of dairy farms, followed by communicating those ideas into actionable plans at the farm level. Amy has a passion for facilitating knowledge transfer.

Prior to her current position, Amy worked as a researcher at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and was first-author on a 10-year, designed crossbreeding experiment in Minnesota commercial dairy herds. She earned both M.S. and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Minnesota. Her passion for genetics and dairy cattle stems to her upbringing on her family’s Minnesota dairy farm.

Amy resides in suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her husband and toddler son.

Presentation titles:

• Inbreeding and hybrid vigor: Genetic effects that enhance ProCROSS
• Selecting your best bulls for ProCROSS with ProCROSS Rank

After spending more than 20 years in the corporate world running a Legal Recruitment Consultancy Karen joined her Husband Tom in 2009 to help run their family farm in Cheshire. They milk 530 ProCROSS cows with 300 followers and also run a small on-site processing plant delivering milk to over 650 doorsteps.

In 2016 they started selling milk and produce from the Milkshack, an on-farm vending machine facility. Karen is passionate about animal welfare, encouraging younger people into the industry and showcasing good farming practices to both the general public and other farmers via their AHDB Strategic Farm meetings. Karen was also crowned Women In Dairy, Dairy Industry Woman of the Year in 2020.

Patrick grew up on his family farm in South Devon, still farming there today. After finishing his education at Seale Hayne in Agriculture he returned to the family farm. Originally milking high yielding Holsteins producing upto 12,000l .They decided to go down the ProCross route in 2012, purchasing his first VikingRed semen, as he was looking for a healthier ,higher component, longer lasting dairy cow. Today, in partnership with his brother Graeme, he is milking 600 ProCross cows on a mixed dairy arable and beef farm.

Previously a Milklink/Arla area representative Patrick particularly enjoyed this role of representing farmers and having the opportunity to visit processing sites both in the UK & mainland Europe.
Patrick is married to Yvonne with 2 children and enjoys spending time with his family.

Peter Long has extensive business, technical and nutritional skills. He has experience gained through more than twenty one years practical on-farm consultancy.

Chris Walkland is an agricultural journalist, market analyst and consultant specialising in the dairy sector.
He has written about the industry for around 25 years on all aspects of the dairy supply chain from primary production on the farm through to the economics and politics at processor, retailer and consumer level.

He writes the fortnightly Dairy Market Report for The Provision Trade Federation – a trade body that represents many of the UK’s processors; is a commentator in British Dairying magazine, as well as other farming papers; and features every week in the Kite Consulting dairy industry podcast