#WeAreDairy | Meet the Judges

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Alison Cox, Global Application Specialist – Agriculture, Diversey

 

we are dairy alison cox

Following a desire to milk cows, Alison began her career via the agricultural apprentice scheme culminating in a spell at agricultural college where an interest in mastitis control was born. From there, she moved to milking on commercial units before taking a position as herd person at Northampton Agricultural College educating students in the principles of milking cows alongside the general dairy farm operations.

 

 

An opportunity to join the team of MMB mastitis consultants advising farmers on how to circumnavigate TBC and SCC introduction set the grounding for her future role as the Application Specialist for the Agricultural division of Diversey. This is a role she has held for the past 30 years, working directly with dairy farmers and in collaboration with farm vets, milk buyers and Government and other consultancy bodies both in the UK and around the world. The key message throughout her career has been the focus on the role that hygiene plays at every level of animal welfare, disease control and milk production regimes.

 

Industry Experience

40 years involvement in the dairy farm sector, including practical farm experience, consultancy, product development, pharmocovigilance and disease control.

 

Accreditations

National and Advanced Diplomas in Dairying.

Qualified Person Responsible For Pharmacovigilance, Diversey.

 

Notable Work on Improving Sustainability / Welfare

Much of my career has been focussed on hygienic milk production and mastitis control, both in terms of the development of sustainable dairy hygiene products, delivering hygiene and disease control advice and carrying out on-farm investigations into practical, sustainable and cost effective regimes to improve milk quality.

 

For the most part working directly with milk producers and producer retailers or in collaboration with in-house agricultural teams, farm vets, milk buyers, distributors, government and other consultancy and educational bodies both in the UK and around the world. 

  • A long association with Harper Adams as guest speaker for the MSc Veterinary Pharmacy dairy hygiene module.
  • Presented at the British Mastitis Conference on the role of hygiene and mastitis control.
  • Worked with the British Dairy Consortium to deliver hygiene modules for the Rumanian Dairy Farm Management Seminar.

 

Thoughts on the Great Things Dairy Farmers are Doing

Pressures for lower antibiotic usage, focussed disease control, reduced water consumption, environmental stewardship, highest quality milk supply, improved cow longevity are just some of the issues that the dairy farming community is dealing with every day. For some, these pressures are driving fantastic total farm initiatives, whilst others are adopting the more simple practical approaches to improve welfare, productivity and health of their herds or opting to change practises to manage their energy and water use in a more sustainable way. I think every farm business is considering its environmental impact and sustainability profile and there is a hunger for direction and knowledge to move forward with this.

 

What Excites you Most about the We Are Dairy Award?

I am excited to be involved in the We Are Dairy Award.  I think it gives the opportunity for ideas however large or small, initiative, elaborate or simply practical, to be shared and showcased, to give other farmers the opportunity to consider changes that they could make for the long term sustainability of their milk supply, animals and their farm.  I think it is also a great opportunity to inform the consumer of the huge strides the farming community are making to the sustainable future of their food.