Beef and sheep advisor Matthew Blyth NSch 2021 has published his Nuffield Farming report entitled 'Evaluating the potential cost benefits of electronic data recording for UK sheep and beef farms', sponsored by the John Oldacre Foundation.

The full report is now available on the Nuffield Farming report library and his report video is available on the Nuffield Farming YouTube channel. Matthew presented the findings of his research at the 2023 Nuffield Farming Conference in Exeter and a recording of his presentation can be found here.

During his Scholarship, Matthew travelled to New Zealand, Australia, Tasmania, Norway, Ireland, and Scotland. His primary objective was to understand the potential cost benefits of electronic data recording for UK sheep and beef farms.

In his report, he says, "Electronic Identification Devices (EID) can improve animal welfare, detect disease outbreaks early, and optimise diets for increased production in farming businesses."

However, he notes that currently there are still some hurdles to overcome for most farmers before they see the benefits of EID: "EID offers lots of opportunities. The key to using it effectively is not making it too complicated and using the technology to the level which brings a benefit and return from beyond what is required for simple identification purposes."

Matthew believes that farmers need ongoing support and training from the UK Government, and software companies will be important: "Farmers need independent support to understand and integrate software and hardware across different platforms, as well as training and ongoing support for accurate and easy operation of their equipment and software."

Collaboration between farmers, industry stakeholders, and technology providers is also essential: "Better integration of data between government gateways, livestock markets, slaughterhouses, and all the different on-farm software programmes used on farms is necessary to provide an easier way to generate useable reports for farmers to understand and compare their business year on year and against industry KPIs."

Messages

There is an opportunity for farmers to see the cost benefits of using electronic data. At this time, there are still some hurdles to overcome for most farmers before they see the benefits. One hurdle which starts to open the door to more electronic data use is when electronic identification becomes compulsory.

1. We need better support and training for farmers – to understand what data is helpful for their business and how to collect it easily.
2. More independent projects and work looking at what data to collect and when. These projects need to be run over a period of years to see what effect one event will have on lifetime performance and identify what is the important data is to collect.
3. Collaboration between scientists, hardware manufacturers and software companies. To work out how farmers can use it in the field and how it can improve production and lower drug use.
4. Developers need to consider the work effects by involving farmers with different capabilities in the development.
5. If we don't measure it, we cannot manage or understand what is going on within your business and find where there is opportunity for improvement. Work with advisors that understand the results. Better sharing of data between different software packages e.g. accounting software, feed budgeting, and livestock management software, saving time on double entering data.