A practical one-day Farming Connect & AHDB Dairy masterclass with Anna Bowen and Owen Atkinson
Applications are now open for MasterBusiness (Dairy), a practical and interactive masterclass designed to help dairy farmers understand their business figures, identify opportunities and make more confident decisions.
Led by Anna Bowen and Owen Atkinson, the day will combine industry insight, worked examples and hands-on support. You will explore the financial measures that matter most, understand how herd health affects profitability and use your own farm figures to identify practical actions for your business.
What will the masterclass cover?
- The bigger picture: an overview of the UK and Welsh dairy industry, where the milk market is heading and how production costs compare across different systems.
- Understanding farm accounts: variable and overhead costs, and the difference between management and financial accounts.
- Making sense of the numbers: how to use costings reports and benchmarking effectively, including full cost of production, comparative farm profit, break-even milk price and return on capital.
- The true cost of disease: the direct and hidden financial impact of mastitis, lameness and poor fertility, and when veterinary and medicine spending should be viewed as an investment.
- What top-performing farms do differently: the performance figures worth tracking and a simple approach to reviewing them regularly.
- Your farm, your numbers: a supported practical session to calculate key measures, compare performance and identify the biggest opportunities within your own business.
Who is it for?
This masterclass is for dairy farmers who want to strengthen their understanding of farm finances and use business information more effectively. Whether you already benchmark performance or are taking a closer look at your figures for the first time, the day will provide clear explanations, relevant examples and practical support.
What will you gain?
By the end of the day, you will have a clearer picture of your farm’s financial performance, a better understanding of the figures to monitor and two or three practical actions to take forward on your farm.
What to bring with you
To get the most from the practical afternoon session, please bring a copy of your most recent annual accounts and a calculator or phone. Your figures will remain with you at all times, and you will not be asked to share them with the group. An example farm will be available if you prefer not to use your own accounts.
Tutors
Owen Atkinson is a RCVS Specialist vet in Cattle Health and Production, and has a Certificate in change leadership. He has many years’ experience of working with dairy herds of all types to improve their performance, mainly centred on better health, but also measuring and benchmarking a range of KPIs for other important production-efficiency parameters.
Anna Bowen is a farm business consultant working for The Andersons Centre, specialising in dairy enterprises. Anna has worked in farm consultancy for 17 years and also contract farms with a herd of 300 Spring block calving dairy cows. She works with farmers across England and Wales providing technical, business, and strategic advice, with a focus on profitable farming from simple systems.
Dates & locations
| Date | Location |
| 2 November 2026 | Faenol Fawr Country House Hotel, Bodelwyddan, Denbighsgire, LL18 5UN |
| 4 November 2026 | Gelli Aur College Farm, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, SA32 8NJ |
Apply now
Places are limited. Apply during the application window for the opportunity to take part in this focused one-day masterclass and gain practical tools to improve decision-making, performance and profitability within your dairy business.
This event is eligible for SFS UA4. (6 hours)
If a business partner attends, the participation hours will count towards SFS UA4 Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
