News
-
News Articles
-
February 2019
- Gap between EU and Oceania wholesale markets narrows
- Milk forecasting forum Feb-19
- GB milking herd shrinks again
- GDT index shows recovery after eight month slump
- Latest SMP tender results
- Why are producer numbers dropping so quickly?
- How long will we continue to break production records?
- Weaker currency inflates UK market values
- Opportunities in the growing UK organic dairy market
- European SMP supplies squeezed
- New targets for the top dairy farms
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- Archive
-
February 2019
- Technical Articles
- News Archive
New targets for the top dairy farms
Published 6 February 19
Dairy farmers can now benchmark themselves against the top five percent of farms following an update to AHDB Dairy’s key performance indicators (KPIs) which were revealed at Dairy-Tech today.
The addition of this new category to the existing bands for the top 25% and industry average farms enable farmers to see how they compare with others and identify areas for improvement.
The KPIs have also been refreshed using the latest available data and include changes to the definitions and calculations following discussions with farmers and industry consultants.
Mark Topliff, AHDB lead analyst said: “We listened to feedback from our strategic farm meetings plus consultants from across the industry and updated the KPIs to make sure they are relevant to all and stretch the best.”
Launched in 2017, the KPIs form part of AHDB’s optimal dairy systems programme, which is encouraging farmers to focus on either all year round or blocking calving.
The KPIs are split into six physical measures for each calving system as well as three financial measures which are applicable to both.
As well as other minor changes, the ‘Income retained’ KPI has been replaced with ‘full economic net margin’ and ‘total purchased feed costs’ now exclude forage and youngstock feed.
A full set of definitions along with guidance about how to calculate each measure can be found on AHDB Dairy’s website alongside an online calculator where they enter their own figures to see how they compare.
The KPIs are built into Farmbench, AHDB’s recently launched online benchmarking tool to help farmers compare themselves anonymously with other farms.
“Dairy farmers need to be in good shape to deal with future challenges. Our updated KPIs enable farmers to review their performance, identify areas for improvement and make changes to ensure they’re performing well for years to come” concluded Mark.
