Hosted at Warwick Racecourse early in June, the Conference’s content was focused firmly on ‘what’s in it for me?’ and saw keynote speeches from Mike Cullen from Reaseheath College and Alastair Taylor from the Institution of Agricultural Engineers, before a dairy farmer’s view was shared by NFU’s Dairy Board Member James Miller, and a dealer’s view was shared by Mike Howes from TH White Ltd. The formal part of the event drew to a close with a Q&A session with representatives from Lely, Fullwood, DeLeval, GEA and Boumatic, as well as the speakers from the day.

“We were thrilled with the high turnout” explained Roger-Lane Nott, Director General and CEO of the Milking Equipment Association. “Not only did we have a very high number of dealers and technicians in the room, but we also welcomed representatives from many of the parlour manufacturers and from the processing world too which made for some lively discussions during the Q&A section.”

“Our intention was to share an in-depth update on the Parlour Safe accreditation scheme and to encourage all of those dealers whose technicians successfully secured Level 2 of the LTA MEA to enrol on this year’s Level 3 course – either at Reaseheath College or at their own venue. We chose to focus the conference as we did because we recognise that only by working with the dealers and the technicians direct will we be able to provide dairy farmers across the country with the peace of mind that their equipment is being properly and appropriately supported, and because we’re passionate about providing quality dealers and technicians with the ability to stand out from the crowd.”

Parlour Safe is a national qualification and accreditation scheme which was launched to provide a benchmark of the competence of milking technicians. Open to dealers and independent technicians alike, it was developed by the Milking Equipment Association (MEA) in conjunction with Reaseheath College and is administered by the Institution of Agricultural Engineers.

“The open discussions and feedback after the keynote speeches provided some interesting suggestions which we’ve taken on board and which will help shape the scheme as we move forwards. One of the areas we’re now exploring as a result of the conference is the ability to provide exemptions from some modules of the Level 2 and 3 courses if other appropriately stringent training records can be provided. Not only will this help dealers and technicians save money and time, but it will ensure that those who are already highly skilled can be fast-tracked all the way to Level 4, Master Technician, should they choose” added Roger Lane-Nott.