ÎÞÂ붯»­

Student research to help protect sheep farm profitability

Posted 26 February 2015

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An evaluation of the profitability of upland sheep farms is taking place as part of a research project being conducted by a final year agriculture student at ÎÞÂ붯»­.

Gordon Robinson hopes to assess the sustainability of sheep farm profitability in the context of wider industry challenges, such as the potential removal of farm subsidies.

To do this, the 24-year-old is comparing data from two contrasting upland sheep farms, looking at the market price and costs of production.

Gordon from Worcester said: “Profitability is a problem for sheep farmers at the moment, and they can often be reliant on external factors such as subsidies.

“This project is looking at what would potentially happen if these subsidies were removed – whether the performance of farms is currently good enough, and whether they could survive without.

“By comparing the data, I hope to be able to identify the most profitable periods in which to market lamb, the effects of marketing policies on the whole farm system, and also identify the factors that are critical to sustaining financial performance in the future.

“I hope that my findings will prove a useful insight into where farmers, particularly in upland areas, can improve.”

Gordon, who studies BSc (Hons) Agriculture with Farm Business Management, is currently collating the data for analysis.

He added: “Farmers can find it difficult to learn from benchmarking their performance, as the wide range of production environments, together with different breed types and rearing systems used in the U.K, limit their ability to be meaningfully compared to other businesses.

“By identifying potential threats to profitability, this project aims to aid farmers’ awareness of them, and highlight areas where they can help make their business more resilient to outside influences.”

Gordon’s research will be completed later this year.  Upon graduation, he hopes to work elsewhere in the sheep industry before returning to the family farm in the future.