Monitor Farms and why should I attend? Grain market daily

• Grain and oilseed prices fell again yesterday on easing weather concerns and selling by speculative traders. Ongoing harvesting in the US and southern Ukraine also added pressure to wheat prices.
• The forecast of imminent rain in key US maize and soyabean growing areas eased worries about the impact of ongoing high temperatures. However, in some areas, the rain could be quite heavy. Something to watch longer-term is if yesterday’s predictions from the US National Weather Service are confirmed. It reports a much higher chance of above-normal temperatures and below-normal rainfall in key maize growing areas through July. Weather conditions in July are crucial to US maize yields.
• Condition scores for French winter wheat remained stable in the week ending 17 June, though winter and spring barley ratings dipped slightly (FranceAgriMer). Harvesting of winter crops seems on course to begin in late-June.
• Nov-24 UK feed wheat futures fell £2.00/t to settle at £197.45/t, while the May-25 contract lost £2.40/t to close at £205.10/t. Nov-24 Paris rapeseed futures fell €2.75/t to settle at €472.00/t.

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In 2024 AHDB is celebrating 10 years of the cereals and oilseeds Monitor Farm programme. During this time there have been nearly 40 UK Monitor Farms, which have brought together like-minded farmers to share performance and best practice information to improve their farming business.

AHDB Monitor Farms run four to six free-to-attend meetings per year looking at pre agreed topics covering all aspects of the farming business. This can include grain marketing, machinery replacement policy and soil health. These meetings are led by the Regional Knowledge Exchange Managers and industry experts to make sure that the information supplied is the most accurate and up to date. The meetings are farmer-led, which provides an excellent opportunity for farmers to share challenges and solutions.

Why should I attend a Monitor Farm meeting?

• 88% of farmers who attended a Monitor Farm meeting said their technical knowledge had improved.
• 97% of farmers agreed that attending a Monitor Farm meeting was a good use of their time.
• 82% of farmers identified business improvements by attending a Monitor Farm meeting.

When asked “Why do you attend a Monitor Farm meeting?” we received the following responses:

“Opened new opportunities”

“Forced to have a rethink and Monitor Farm process helped to evaluate our options”

“There’s always something to learn and improve”

“Some of the best ideas come from other farmers”

“I’m an ex-monitor farmer, I always bring my notepad to these meetings and I’m always writing something down and learning”

Eight new Monitor Farms for 2024

In 2024 AHDB is launching eight new monitor farms across the UK. These are:

• Hereford Monitor Farm – Ledgemoor, near Weobly, Herefordshire
• Leverton Monitor Farm – Spilsby, Lincolnshire
• Kingsclere Monitor Farm – Tadley, Hampshire
• Kent Monitor Farm – Hythe, Kent
• Camborne Monitor Farm – Camborne, Cornwall
• Pilton Monitor Farm – Pilton, Shepton Mallet, Somerset
• Altcar Moss Monitor Farm – Lydiate, Merseyside
• North Yorkshire Monitor Farm – Yarm, North Yorkshire

As part of these new Monitor Farms there will be an Arable Business Group (ABG) run alongside to scrutinise farm performance using AHDB’s benchmarking programme Farmbench. These ABG’s are facilitated by AHDB’s Farmbench Managers, which enables a fully validated dataset to be used ensuring that the strengths and weaknesses highlighted in the reports are accurate.

Why should I join an ABG?

When asked “What did you find most useful about attending an ABG?” we had the following responses:

If you would like to attend a Monitor Farm meeting a full list of events can be found here. There’s number still to run this summer with more being arranged for the autumn and winter.

We are always looking to recruit new members into our Arable Business Groups. Being part of these groups brings many benefits such as understanding your cost of production, pricing and marketing strategies, farmer to farmer learning and access to industry experts. Being part of an ABG is completely free of charge. If you would like more information, please get in touch with your local Farmbench Manager here.

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