MID Wales farmers have until 10 December to take part in an initiative to benefit the beef and sheep sectors in Wales and form part of the groundwork for an uncertain post-Brexit future.

The Red Meat Benchmarking project is a £2.15 million project funded from the Welsh Government EU Transition Fund, which aims to increase up to 2,000 beef and sheep producers’ understanding of the production costs and performance of their businesses.

Delivered by Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC), with support from Farming Connect, it will be an introduction to benchmarking for many farmers.

Others, however, are already reaping the benefits from keeping a close eye on their finances year-on-year.

Tregaron sheep and beef farmer, Rhun Williams is very aware of the need to ensure that his farming business is financially fit and competitive.

The farm business data has been analysed since Rhun and his wife Nerys bought their farm in 2011.

“We started benchmarking so that we could keep a close eye on our costs of production as we had just bought the farm. It was essential that we were fully aware of our costs and could make improvements to our business.

“It has been beneficial for us to compare our system with similar systems. It gives you a focus and allows you to target your business for improvements. Making minor adjustments often have a big impact on the performance of the business.”

Yr Ochor is a 125-acre farm with 350-400 mules and Aberfield-cross, and 70 store cattle aged 4-20 months. An additional flock of 270 Welsh mules graze 100-acres of rented farm land, and these produce the replacements.

The specific areas that Rhun has looked at by benchmarking has been improving barren ewe rates, reducing pre-turn out lamb losses and increasing output per ewe and the way it’s affecting his margins.

Rhun said: “By looking at these figures and comparing them, we can set ourselves targets against other high performing businesses. This will, in turn, improve our own performance.”

“Benchmarking has led to changes in the business, and to the way I think about the business. It has made me think about increasing the performance of the farm and the business by improving what we’ve already got, rather than being tempted to look for more land and livestock.”

The online questionnaire and eligibility criteria can be accessed on the HCC website – meatpromotion.wales – until 10 December.