On July 7 2015, AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds will be at the National Organic Combinable Crops event 2015 (NOCC15) in Suffolk to discuss how organic farmers can use benchmarking to get a true picture of their businesses and fine-tune their operations.

AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds’ nationwide programme is helping Arable Business Groups ‘measure to manage’ and evaluate their businesses, share knowledge with local peers and make genuine savings and improvements.

Organic farmers can – and do – benefit from benchmarking, as shown by AHDB’s Scotland-based Organic Arable Business Group. This group, which draws members from the Borders up to Elgin, has already adapted existing benchmarking tools to suit the needs of the organic sector.

The group made straightforward adjustments to CropBench+ to accommodate the longer timescales and costs associated with building fertility through clover and grass leys, and by applying larger quantities of manure.

The group’s nine members were then able to fully benchmark their businesses as organic farmers and compare their costs and overheads with meaningful data. This highlighted their strengths and weaknesses, and enabled them to learn from each other for the good of everyone in the group.

Gavin Dick, AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds’ Scotland Manager, said the Organic Arable Business Group members have been able to identify key issues that they want to address throughout the year.

“If low yield is a key issue, we look at who has the best and lowest yields and then make farm visits to drill into the detail, from sowing and crop establishment to harvesting. There is equal learning from both the highest and lowest yielding farms.

“If the issue is price, then we’ll look at how the farmer with the best price marketed the crop, and put on a workshop. If necessary, we’ll find specialist speakers but most of the expert knowledge is within the peer group.

“There is no better vehicle for learning than a group of like-minded people who allow each other to examine their businesses. We just need to get the farmers talking to one another.”

Tim Isaac, AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds East Manager, will be at NOCC15 to discuss what the group has achieved and how other organic farmers can get the best from their businesses through benchmarking.

Farmers involved in AHDB’s programme have given very positive feedback on the impact of benchmarking on their businesses, presented in a new animated video.

“Benchmarking is useful,” said Julian Gold from the Wantage Monitor Farm. “By comparing your business with others, you can see where you can improve.”

Alistair Nelson of the Driffield-based Arable Business Group agrees: “We teach each other and the discussions make us think. That’s how you fine-tune a business.”

The video is now available online and will be shown at NOCC15.

Organic farmers who are interested in setting up a benchmarking group should contact their AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds Regional Manager, or speak to Tim Isaac at NOCC15.