Dairy farmers are encouraged to attend the upcoming joint New Zealand and Ireland Pasture Summit forum, which will address whether pasture is still the way forward.
The forum will be held across two days, with sessions on Wednesday, July 7, and Thursday, July 8.
Farmers were able to attend the event in person at Claudelands Event Centre, Hamilton, or farmers nationwide could tune in online.
The Pasture Summit was a unique event, DairyNZ strategy and investment leader, new systems and competitiveness, Bruce Thorrold said.
In-depth insights into global dairy trends and customer preferences would be offered, while current thinking on the future of pasture-fed dairy would be challenged.
The forum was designed to share the latest knowledge and thinking from leading experts, scientists, and businesspeople, to help farmers secure profitable and sustainable businesses from pastoral farming.
Thorrold was speaking at the summit with Pat Dillon, Head of Animal & Grassland Research and Innovation Programme at Teagasc.
Teagasc was the semi-state authority in the Republic of Ireland responsible for research and development, training and advisory services in the agri-food sector.
"We're going to be talking about the situation in Ireland and New Zealand - what's happening with policy, what are the customer and community drivers around the environment - it's not just water - it's greenhouse gases and biodiversity we have to think about," Thorrold said.
Listen below:
The pair would also talk about technology options for farmers, and what was coming up "in the research pipeline," Thorrold said.
Policy frameworks, such as He Waka Eke Noa, the Co-operative Difference and Lead With Pride would also be discussed.
"All the programmes that are being set up to encourage and help farmers to lower their footprint and increase their profits," Thorrold said.
The summit was also designed to encourage attendees to ask the hard questions during discussion time, so the sector was looking forward, and focused on innovation and finding solutions.
The Pasture Summit forum was organised and run by a group of progressive and committed farmers and dairy sector experts from across New Zealand and Ireland and supported by DairyNZ.
Registration to attend the event in person or virtually would also give access to recorded footage of the event.
For more information about the summit, "Pasture Fed Dairy & Water Quality – Is pasture still the way forward?" and to register, visit pasturesummit.co.nz
Also in today's interview: Thorrold talked about what was happening with policy and research in New Zealand.
