The annual two day specialist business to business event staged at The NEC, Birmingham will be called Livestock Incorporating Dairy Event from next year and will be held during the first week in July from 2013 onwards.

Livestock 2012 will continue to build on the event’s current successful format offering comprehensive technical, business and financial information for the entire UK ruminant sector, and provide a one-stop shop for not only for dairy, beef and sheep farmers, but in future, it will also welcome pig and poultry producers.

From 2013, Livestock will be staged annually on the first Wednesday and Thursday in July, dates more in line with farmers’ buying decisions and which avoid overlapping with the major regional shows.

RABDF chief executive, Nick Everington said: "We have organised and staged the UK’s leading event in the dairy sector for 136 years. Over the past 10 years, the number of UK dairy farmers has fallen by approximately 11,500 to 15,000 yet at the same time exhibitor numbers have increased by 70 per cent, from 280 to 480, and visitor numbers by 42 per cent to over 16,000 as we have widened the event’s appeal to not only beef and sheep farmers, but also to our dairy farmer visitors, almost 60 per cent of whom have additional livestock or arable enterprises.

"While dairy farmer visitors continue to remain dominant at the event milking 78 per cent of the UK’s cows, more and more visitors have non-dairy enterprises. In fact at this year’s event, 57 per cent of farmers were rearing beef, 27 per cent sheep, 11 per cent pigs and seven per cent poultry.

"Our exhibitor profile featured 68 per cent offering products for beef farmers, 51 per cent to sheep farmers, 40 per cent to pig producers and 33 per cent to poultry producers.

"In future, there will be no dilution of the dairy content; the milking and genetic zones, foot trimming demonstrations and National All Breeds Show competitive classes will all remain key features.

"However, being realistic the event has become much more than a dairy show and its present title does not convey its true scope. Consequently, we are rebranding to appeal to and embrace all livestock farmers, in particular those specialist producers who previously may have been discouraged from visiting because of its strong dairy association.

"Re-branding and rescheduling will enable us to focus on the entire livestock industry and build on the event’s reputation and success. It will increase our target audience in the UK from 15,000 to over 200,000 producers and thereby massively expand the potential for business, from both UK and overseas markets.

"Furthermore, The NEC with its large, modern, easy accessed venue, which has repositioned the event from being a good farming show to a very professional exhibition reflecting the true worth of the industry, will help further expansion as we continue to build the event to become the flagship not only for the UK industry, but also to rival its European counterparts."