Farmbench will remain available while AHDB considers longer-term options for farm benchmarking
Farmers will retain access to AHDB’s Farmbench service for another year after the levy board abandoned plans to close the benchmarking platform at the end of September.
The service will remain online in a reduced form, however, with data validation and dedicated support from Farmbench managers being withdrawn.
Farmbench allows farmers to compare business performance and benchmarking data, including regional comparisons, helping them assess costs and performance against other farm businesses.
The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board had planned to close the service as part of wider budget prioritisation.
But feedback from Farmbench users, combined with a review by AHDB’s newly appointed sector directors for Cereals & Oilseeds and Beef & Lamb, prompted the organisation to reconsider.
The platform will now remain available on the AHDB website for a further 12 months while the levy board examines longer-term options for farm benchmarking.
Although farmers will continue to have access to the core benchmarking and comparison functions, AHDB warned that some parts of the service could become less reliable over time.
In particular, regularly updated pricing information may become less accurate without the previous level of data validation and support.
Anthony Hopkins, AHDB Sector Director for Cereals & Oilseeds, said: “Since joining AHDB, it has become clear that Farmbench remains a valued resource for many levy payers.”
He said feedback from users had reinforced the importance of benchmarking in farm business decision-making and wider industry discussions.
“We've listened carefully to the feedback from users and recognise the important role benchmarking plays in supporting business decision-making and driving discussion across the industry,” he said.
AHDB believes continuing Farmbench in a scaled-back form will preserve some of those benefits while significantly reducing the cost of running the platform.
“Keeping Farmbench available in a reduced format allows us to maintain an element of that support while we explore what a future, more cost-effective benchmarking solution could look like,” Hopkins said.
AHDB said the cost of maintaining the service for the next 12 months is expected to be significantly lower than the historical cost of operating Farmbench in its previous format.
However, it did not provide a figure for the anticipated cost of keeping the service running.
Over the coming year, AHDB will assess whether Farmbench could be developed into a more sustainable platform or whether an alternative benchmarking service would better meet the needs of levy payers.
The extension therefore gives farmers continued access to Farmbench for now, but its future beyond the next 12 months remains undecided.