ACCORDING to Gavin Hodgson , buying manager for meat , fish and poultry at Sainsbury ’ s , successful businesses all have one thing in common : Customer focus . And that ’ s one thing which is often lacking in the farming sector .

Speaking at the Oxford Farming Conference this month , he said : “ Top businesses live and breathe their customer – everything they do leads back to the customer .” Convoluted supply chains make that difficult in agriculture ; something which greater collaboration could tackle . “ We need a customer-obsessed supply web so we can deliver what we need going forward .”

One difficulty is sharing data from the end user back to the primary producer , as it can often involve several different farms , explained Ian Wheal , founder of Breedr , which seeks to address this issue . “ There are a number of barriers to achieving the true potential of British beef production , and collaboration is one of them .”

However , Breedr is helping farmers to form their own integrated supply chains , tracking livestock from birth to slaughter and identifying the best genetics and management

to produce the perfect beef animal . In the UK there are huge variations in the age of finished stock , and only 55 % of animals meet the target specification , which affects the eating quality and consistency of beef on the supermarket shelf .

Through Breedr , 79 % of users ’ stock are now meeting the target specification and are finishing five months younger than average , saving farmers both time and money . “ Productivity is going to be key over the next five years , as is our environmental impact and reporting ,” said Mr Wheal . By finishing stock more efficiently and within customer specifications , farmers , the environment , and the consumer all win .

According to Phil Bicknell , market intelligence director at AHDB , there is a £ 50,000 difference in profit between the top and bottom quartile of producers , which demonstrates the scope for improvement . “ That is not down to scale or resources – most of it is down to business decisions and actions ,” he said .

As the Basic Payment Scheme is phased out in England , the average lowland livestock farmer will receive £ 17,928 in support payments in 2020 , dropping to £ 8,964 in 2024 and

zero in 2028 . “ In the long run , the big challenge is around preparing for a future with no direct payments ,” said Mr Bicknell . “ Only the changes we make on farm will give us the resilience we need for the future . We need to be more customer and market focused , rather than just producing a product and hoping to sell it .”

Panel – The farmer ’ s perspective

Ian Sturmer finishes 600 head of beef cattle with his father at Sturmer Farms , East Sussex , and has completely changed his system to improve the consistency and eating quality

of his stock . “ We used to buy in store cattle to finish within 30-90 days of arrival , but the finished product and physical performance was very variable ,” he said .

Having spoken with chefs , supermarkets and abattoirs , he decided to focus on smaller carcasses with better eating quality and consistency . He invested in new buildings to increase the time on farm to 90 days – to better control the final feeding regime – and started working with dedicated calf rearers and dairy calf producers .

“ It was a great opportunity to work together and create a

financially and environmentally sustainable model ,” explained Mr Sturmer . “ We created welfare and feeding protocols so all of the rearers were doing the same thing , and we did a lot of work on ventilation and building design .”

Monitoring growth rates through Breedr helped to identify the impact of those changes , as well as the best genetics to use . “ If you ’ re not measuring it you can ’ t manage it ,” said Mr Sturmer . “ If we ’ re going to compete with other meat products or vegetarian dishes then we need to ensure consistently good eating quality .”