A benchmarking tool from the British Potato Council (BPC) is to be updated to help UK growers make sound financial decisions when planning ahead.

The costing and benchmarking CD, which compatible with Windows Vista and XP, will be posted to registered growers who have attended a BPC workshop.

The user-friendly software enables growers to organise costs in a simple way.

Phil Bradshaw, supply chain manager for the BPC said: “More than 600 growers have already attended workshops, which advise on understanding production costs and lead to analysis and discussion of business improvement.”

Growers are shown how to enter their own farm costs, cropping and account data into the model. They must select from farm sizes 40 hectares, 41-100ha and 101ha-plus, then enter data for a sector or multiple sectors, split by processing, ware, salad and seed crops.

“Your results are then compared with industry-comparable data and highlighted green if costs are okay, amber if they require attention or red if they look critical,” Bradshaw said. “It enables growers to compare their potato crop confidentially both with other enterprises on their farm, and with production costs and business performance of the sector average, minimum, maximum and top 25 per cent. By understanding costs growers will be able to identify their business strengths and weaknesses and improve their efficiency and profitability.”

For more information contact Phil Bradshaw at the BPC on 07776 492274.

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