Mr Owen Atkinson

Owen graduated from the University of Liverpool in 1994 with distinction. After working in clinical dairy practice for 19 years and gaining RCVS Specialist status he founded Dairy Veterinary Consultancy in 2013.

Owen provides advice and training for a wide variety of dairy farming and farm veterinary businesses with a focus on leading effective change. He was awarded a Nuffield Scholarship (2010) to develop consultancy within the dairy veterinary sector. He developed the UK's national lameness management initiative for dairy farms (the Heathy Feet Programme) and Dairy UK's MilkSure programme, which educates vets and farmers about the responsible use of veterinary medicines and avoiding medicine residues in milk. He is an assessor for the National Association of Cattle Foot Trimmers and co-authored the acclaimed textbook, Bovine Surgery and Lameness (3rd Edition).

His research interests include the diagnosis and prevalence of sub-acute rumen acidosis; the health and welfare of calves and behavioural characteristics of housed herds.

In 2022, Owen was awarded a Post Graduate Certificate in Change Leadership with distinction from Aberystwyth University. He is an experienced trainer, facilitator and mentor, as comfortable working with teams of people as he is with cows.

Owen’s professional goal is to improve the lives of cows and the people who look after them.