Net margins for English beef and sheep enterprises continue to improve according to the new Stocktake benchmarking report from EBLEX.
The average enterprise results show a negative net margin overall, except for beef finishing up to 16 months which is slightly positive.
These are the key findings in EBLEX’s first Stocktake Report, which provides more detailed benchmarking figures and extra data on physical performance than previously available. EBLEX collected data from a range of English farms with beef and sheep enterprises.
The net margin does not include income from Single Farm Payments, Environmental Stewardship Payments or diversification, which remains a vital part of whole farm income. It does include family labour, rent or a rental value and interest on working capital.
The improvements in all enterprise net margins between the year to March 2013 and the previous year were attributed to many factors including higher market prices for some enterprises.
The top third breeding enterprises also achieved positive net margins, except in the case of lowland suckler herds.
AHDB/EBLEX senior analyst Carol Davis said: “The detail in the report shows that top third producers in all beef and sheep enterprises spend significantly less on fixed costs than average performing enterprises. This continues to be a key focus area for producers seeking to improve their net margins.”
EBLEX says the extra information in the Stocktake Report 2013will allow producers to better gauge their performance against similar enterprises. Extra informationincludes results split out from farms disadvantaged and severely disadvantaged, plus additional commentary.
“The aim is to highlight areas of the business that are performing well and those where there is scope for improvement. We can influence many factors which have a bearing on the bottom line, including physical performance and variable costs. Ensuring that we are performing at optimal levels should help us cope with other areas of volatility,” said EBLEX chairman John Cross.
Get involved:
If you want to benchmark your own costs and contribute to next year’s report then get in touch with EBLEX.
Email d2VuZHkud2Fsa2VyQGFoZGIub3JnLnVr
Phone 024 7647 8885
Next year EBLEX hopes to include data from even more farms in the stocktake analysis.
Hard copies of the Stocktake report will be distributed to members of the Better Returns Programme in the autumn mailing.
Request a free copy by email YWRtaW5AZWJsZXguYWhkYi5vcmcudWs=.
Alternatively, the pdf will shortly be available to download from the publications section of the EBLEX website.