Information
June 5, 2005 - June 8, 2005 Uppsala, Sweden It is a great honour for the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the Swedish Dairy Association to host the 56th Annual Meeting of the European Association for Animal Production in Uppsala, Sweden, on June 5-8, 2005. The scientific programme covers results achieved in animal science during the last years in many European countries and represents the "State-of-the-Art" in many areas of research. It will be presented in 36 sessions including a special poster session and at a number of workshops, seminars and courses before and after the conference. The overall theme for the conference is "Impact and Challenges of a Widening Europe for Animal Production and Research" , reflecting the consequences of the recent welcoming of new EU member countries and changing agricultural policies. The conditions for farming in Sweden have changed considerably during the last ten years. Until 1990, farming in Sweden was strongly regulated and the production was mainly for the domestic consumption. Then a period of growing market-driven production started, but again, conditions were changed in 1995 when Sweden joined the EU. Today, the structure of livestock farming is changing rapidly towards fewer but larger farms. Swedish farmers have always been attracted by new technologies, and production levels are generally very high. Conditions for farming in the north do however differ much from those in the south. Amazingly, some of our best dairy farms are found around the Arctic Circle, enjoying the Midnight sun, but also enduring long and cold winters. You may recall that Sweden is as long as the distance from its southern tip to Rome! Agricultural research in Sweden is concentrated to SLU, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, founded in 1977, with its main campus located in Uppsala. At SLU you will find all the disciplines of agricultural, veterinary, horticulture and forestry sciences. In Uppsala you will be staying in a modern scientific as well as an old historical milieu. The older sister university of SLU, Uppsala University, was founded in 1477. It has hosted many famous scientists, e. g. Carolus Linnaeus, the great botanist and the founder of the taxonomy system of plants, and Anders Celsius, who invented the Celsius or Centigrade temperature scale system. Their spirits are still very present in Uppsala today. To get a touch of the conditions for animal farming, see special production systems and meet Sweden at a beautiful time of the year, several Conference Tours and Excursions will be arranged. The programme for Accompanying Persons will include a visit to Stockholm, the beautiful capital of Sweden.