'Farm Connections' aims to bring beef sector up to speed

IT WAS claimed yesterday at the annual Oxford Farming Conference that only a fifth of British farmers use IT to manage their business, lagging well behind their counterparts in other major food-producing countries.

However, leading beef farmers now have the chance to join the "Farm Connections" scheme, which was formally launched at the conference by Justin King, the chief executive of Sainsbury's.

Selected producers will be given computers, software and, most importantly, training so they can better compete in the market and be kept informed of developments in the industry.

Training will initially include teaching farmers the basics -- computer installation and becoming accustomed to the hardware, along with software instruction, the use of the internet and how to send and receive e-mails.

Once beef producers have acquired a degree of confidence and competence they will then be introduced to business-improvement packages, such as farm accounting systems, record keeping, the use of benchmarking, electronic form-filling and data submission, and buying and selling on the internet.

King said: "This initiative will enable beef farmers and producers to exchange information with their supply-chain partners and so help to drive down costs and improve the competitiveness of British beef.

"I am convinced this project will make a positive difference to our producers, including providing information relating to consumer habits and trends and significantly help them in their businesses."

Sainsbury's partners in the project, which will be open to producers in Scotland as well as those in England and Wales, are the Red Meat Industry Forum (RMIF) and Anglo British Beef Processors, which has a plant in Perth.

Martin Grantley Smith, the general manager of RMIF, said: "For the first time beef producers will now be able to use technology to help them see beyond the farm gate and take a whole chain approach to their businesses.

"This scheme has been developed over several years to identify ways to improve efficiency and competitiveness of the red meat industry supply chain. It initially starts with 500 farmers, but hopefully will spread to many more over the coming years."

Beef farmers appear to be Luddites and remarkably few know with any degree of accuracy just how much it costs to produce each kilogram of saleable meat. This is in sharp contrast to the pig and dairy sector, where most operators have a detailed recording regime.

Arable farmers are also well advanced in the use of modern electronic technology.

Most new tractors come equipped with an onboard computer that can link up with satellite navigation systems allowing variations in the rate of application of seeds, fertilisers and chemicals.