Dairy farmers are invited to participate in the NZ Dairy Business Conference, the 43rd annual event hosted by the New Zealand Large Herds Association and farm nutrition company Altum.

Chairman of the NZ Large Herds Association Bryan Beeston is encouraging dairy farmers to visit the dairy research and development capital of New Zealand where delegates will have a chance to see the nation's top scientists at work in their world-leading research centres.

"It's an opportunity to see innovation as it happens, with Fonterra making a rare decision to allow delegates a glimpse behind the scenes at its Palmerston North based research centre," says Bryan.

The facility employs more than a hundred world class scientists, is the world's largest dairy research facility and has one of the world's largest dairy pilot plants.

The conference, themed 'Turbo charge your knowledge', runs from Tuesday, March 27 to Thursday, March 29 and is also an opportunity to hear key business and industry leaders discuss their views on dairy research, technology and brand opportunities.

Another key benefit of attending the conference is the opportunity to network, according to Federated Farmers Dairy Chair Willy Leferink, who has been attending the conference for over a decade.

"It's a conference that has been going for a long period of time and always has good, stimulating speakers, but the real value is actually networking with people whether they be speakers or other farmers you see every year. And there's a huge learning opportunity that comes with that," says Willy.

Bryan agrees, saying the chance to meet with agribusiness professionals and industry peers in the one venue means a lot of business is done.

"New ideas and techniques are discussed and often relationships are formed that then become instrumental in building your business," says Bryan.

The conference will also look at one of the biggest issues facing the industry - water quality and the environment. A group of industry heavyweights including representatives from Fonterra, Dairy NZ and Federated Farmers will look at how the industry is responding and coordinating its efforts, the investment that is being made and learnings from the Manawatu experience.

Bryan says farmers will get maximum value from attending the whole conference, but it's possible to register for individual days if that's all time allows.