Farmers who participated in Wales’ Red Meat Benchmarking project towards the end of 2018 can now evaluate their business performance against their peers.
Nearly 1,600 datasets were submitted by beef and sheep farmers in Wales during the nine-week application window of the project.
The scheme was funded by the Welsh Government EU Transition Fund and delivered by Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC).
HCC industry development and relations manager John Richards said: “Following successful validation of the datasets received, individual reports can now be accessed on the ‘My Analysis’ section of Farming Connect’s Measure to Manage website. The bespoke reports include anonymous comparisons with similar businesses within the sector.
The main aim of the project was to increase beef and sheep producers’ understanding of their costs of production and business performance.
“By providing them with accurate, up to date farm data which can be benchmarked against the data of comparable farms, it is hoped that producers can easily identify the strengths and weaknesses of their businesses and feel empowered to make informed changes.
“As the uncertainty of Brexit continues, it is crucial that our farms are strong and sustainable for future success.”
Beef and sheep farmer, Aled Davies from Welshpool (pictured above) was one of the project participants. He keeps around 1,000 ewes and 100 bull beef at The Willows farm, Pool Quay.
He said: “The process of submitting the data for the project was useful in itself as it encouraged me to sit down and scrutinise the incomings and outgoings of my business.
Our sector is becoming increasingly competitive, I’m very conscious of the need to have a good handle on my costs of production on the farm.
Farming Connect will hold a series of one-to-one surgeries across Wales for participants of the project. These will provide an opportunity to discuss and analyse individual results with specialist agricultural consultants.
They will be held between July 1 and 19 at several locations across Wales. To book an appointment with an agricultural consultant at Farming Connect’s surgeries at visit: https://wales.business-events.org.uk/en/events/p-lj56nmglp2oezqje0o17rw38kv4x9y0r/.
