Scotland’s Rural College has strengthened its commitment to the Scottish dairy sector with the appointment of Dr Lorna MacPherson as a Dairy Consultant for the north, working within SRUC’s SAC Consulting Division.
Lorna will be operating in partnership with colleague David Keiley a Senior Dairy Consultant based in Dumfries. Based at the SAC Consulting office in Thainstone Mart, Inverurie she will cover herds and businesses from the Stirlingshire area northwards.
In addition to providing expert consultancy Lorna will be involved in work utilising SRUC’s dairy research at the Crichton Royal Farm, Dumfries, the herd management information generated by the commercially run herd on the nearby SRUC Barony campus and a project carried out by SAC Consulting in Campbeltown and Orkney helping farmers meet the particular specifications demanded by cheesemakers.
“I am excited about joining the consultancy team when the dairy industry is facing such a challenging time,” comments Lorna. “I look forward to getting involved in research at the Crichton and being able to advise farmers on the latest findings in order to benefit the efficiency and profitability of their businesses.”
Lorna graduated from her home University of Aberdeen with a BSc in Animal Science and an MSc in Animal Production. She then went onto specialise in nutritional management with a PhD in On-Line Metabolic Profiling in Dairy Cows from the University of Nottingham and Silsoe Research Institute. This project investigated the feasibility of an on-line monitoring system for early detection of disease and assessing nutritional status based on milk composition.
Lorna began her commercial career at Norvite Animal Nutrition before joining Agri-Lloyd International as Technical Manager. Latterly she was Ruminant Nutritionist with East Coast Viners based near Laurencekirk. She is well known to dairy farmers in the North East through the on-farm technical support she was involved with.
“Lorna brings research, as well as practical and commercial experience to the team,” says David Keilley. “Her skills set will be a valuable asset to the needs of dairy industry at the present time. Lorna will focus on technical and performance monitoring for dairy farmers and she has a particular interest in the optimal use of minerals and trace elements in dairy cow nutrition.”
“Lorna is a specialist in managing higher yielding herds, balancing cost-effective nutrition with good cow health and welfare. Together our Dairy Services Team can offer technical appraisals of dairy farms which aim at improving efficiency and performance through practical advice.”
Lorna can be contacted via [email protected] or phoning the SAC Consulting office at Thainstone 01467 625385.
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