The search is on for five new Strategic Farms to take part in a programme which aims to improve livestock businesses.
The programme, which started in 2017, has been set up to demonstrate the benefits of implementing best practice on farms and improve the financial performance of businesses.
There are already 11 farms, mainly focused around suckler production, participating in the programme.
This year AHDB, which runs the scheme, are looking to recruit farms from a range of systems but predominantly sheep businesses.
Clive Brown, AHDB head of knowledge exchange, beef & lamb, said farms have benefited from being part of the programme.
“We looked at a range of areas from grassland production and nutrition to breeding and animal health to help drive their businesses forward,” she said.
“Each farm monitored performance by regularly weighing and benchmarking through our own tool Farmbench. All activity carried out on the farm was shared at open farm meetings, which provided attendees the opportunity to learn from the host’s experience.
“Even though it’s been a relatively short period in terms of livestock production, we’ve already seen improvements across all the businesses.”
Mr Brown added: “We are expanding the programme this year and looking to include a wider range of businesses with a particular focus on sheep production.”
Strategic farmer Mark Jelley said joined to see how far he could push his beef enterprise and better understand the opportunities for the future.
The challenges his herd has faced in the time he's been part of Strategic Farms have been 'significant', mainly due to the arrival of TB and the severe drought of 2018.
“We've made significant improvements to our grazing practice and understand far more about the extra quality and quantity of grass available on farm as a result and we've made changes to our breed choice to reflect the changing desires of the marketplace,” Mr Jelley said.
“As a result we should be able to increase output without needing more land, while also reaping benefits from improvements in herd health. The advice, equipment and support from the project has really helped move our herd forwards and I'd thoroughly recommend being a part of any future Strategic Farm projects.”
Closing date for applications is 19 May 2019.
