RMIF Farm Business Clubs can make a real difference
05/01/06

RED Meat Industry Forum Farm Business Clubs can make a real difference to farmers' bottom lines was the message from Clare Wise, RMIF's on-farm project manager speaking at the Oxford Farming Conference on 4 January.

An independent evaluation carried out by Imperial College London showed that 85 percent of Club members expected the changes they had put in place to impact on their profitability within the next twelve months.

Of the 85 percent, members' income and net profit was expected to increase by at least 5 percent, with some reporting an expected 30 percent improvement.

The RMIF has several projects to help businesses throughout the whole red meat supply chain. The same independent evaluation recognised that if a realistic number of businesses implemented RMIF programmes, the industry could save around half a billion pounds a year.

Clare Wise said: "Farm Business Clubs offer so much more than discussion and benchmarking - they are making real, quantifiable differences to farm businesses around the country. All this works towards a more sustainable red meat industry."

RMIF Chairman Peter Barr said: "With size comes responsibility." He has challenged retailers to support a more sustainable way of working with their British supply chains and believes there are signs that this is starting to take place. He stressed the importance of Farm Business Clubs in this process, helping farmers to understand their customers' needs and their true costs of production.

About the RMIF

The Red Meat Industry Forum was set up in 2001 by Defra, NFU, IGD and MLC
with the aim of improving competitiveness and profitability in the livestock and red meat industry.

Strengthening the red meat supply chain
Meat-Source now live
Red Meat Industry Forum - a good return on investment