The Royal Agricultural University has announced the Inaugural Lecture of Professor Toby Mottram, Douglas Bomford Chair of Agricultural Mechanisation, in Cirencester on Wednesday, October 23.
Professor Mottram’s lecture will discuss ‘Beyond Boutflour: Towards the 20,000 litre average cow’ and will present a program of research as to how we will improve management techniques to routinely produce 20,000 litres of milk from healthy long-lived cows. The systems described in the lecture will rely heavily on sensor-based feedback control of all aspects of feeding, disease detection and animal management.
Professor Mottram explains that: “Food security was, and still is, a major challenge for the UK, and one of the many people who addressed that challenge was Robert Boutflour at the Royal Agricultural College Cirencester. Sixty years ago Professor Boutflour showed how to produce over 10,000 litres of milk per year from cows bought from the Saturday market in Gloucester. He demonstrated that management was the key to achieving yields that were astonishing in his day and would still rank his herd highly.”
Professor Mottram has broad experience both in applied research during his time at Silsoe Research Institute, where he did pioneering work on robotic milking, and more recently of commercial development through his own company eCow, which develops and markets electronic cow management systems. He also co-ordinated greenhouse gas research with Defra from 2010-2013 (www.ghgplatform.org.uk).
The Inaugural Lecture at the Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester will take place in Boutflour Hall at 6.30pm, and will begin with drinks and networking from 6pm. The same lecture will also be given at the Royal Academy of Engineering, London, on Wednesday, October 16 at 6.30pm, with an introduction by George Freeman, Member of Parliament for Mid-Norfolk.
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To book your place at either of the events, email: mottram.lecture@rau.ac.uk.
Please remember to state which event you would like to go to.
For more information please contact by email: shelly.hampshire@rau.ac.uk
Or call: 01285 652531
