With significant changes to beef farmers' income through the Single Farm Payment the need for greater strategic management of beef farming businesses has never been more critical.

Successful beef farmers are getting to grips with, and making a profit from, supplying animals to meet the needs of the supply chain and ultimately their customers. This involves the control of costs, quality assurance, management of labour, feeding, genetics, while the constant threat that the British beef industry's failure to deliver will increase the level of imports lurks in the background.

The growth of RMIF Farm Business Improvement Clubs, making use of the RMIF benchmarking service, is allowing producers the opportunity to compare their performance accurately, confidentially and on a like-for-like basis with other producers. This information is vital to help farmers make the decisions they need to improve their enterprises.
 
Benchmarking is a diagnostic tool: in the same way that a soil testing kit will tell you where patches of low pH across your farm will limit grass growth, it will tell you where the 'places' are which need 'treating' but it will not do the treatment for you. This is where membership of a Farm Business Improvement Club is valuable as it allows the support to help producers tackle the key issues.

To find out more about our clubs and what is involved please click on 'Farm Business Clubs' on the left hand side tool bar.