Yields have increased as a result of Edward’s changes, attention to detail and risk management skills. Over the last five years, rye yields are up 50% and wheat yields are up 20%. Spring barley yields equal those in the top 10% in the country. Cost benchmarking figures back up the business’s performance as winter wheat, spring barley and sugar beet direct costs are very nearly in the top 10% of all UK farms.
Kati is responsible for data entry in KEYPrime Accounts and KEYPrime Property, while Edward concentrates on the reporting functions.
Enterprise wise, Kati keeps things relatively simple, using three main codes to split transactions between the farm, the estate and the residential properties. However, she does use the Analysis code function thoroughly and this allows her to allocate transactions to every piece of machinery and property.
Kati is also accurate in her entering of all quantities bought and sold in the system. She commented that she does look after the books for a couple of other businesses, using another accounts package and does not find it as straightforward. In fact, Kati finds that even though the Landmark team is very helpful, she very rarely needs to make use of the telephone support line.
Edward concurred with Kati on KEYPrime’s ease of use: “I don’t find it onerous. Yes, I only use it for reporting, I’ve never had to have any formal training for what I use it for.”
Edward mainly uses KEYPrime’s cashflow reporting options, as these are presented to the farm’s owners and directors monthly.
“The budget is created every October in MS Excel and imported into KEYPrime,” explained Edward. This allows him to report on cashflow against budget, irrespective of harvest year. Kati agrees that one of her favourite functions is still the ability to drill down to individual transaction level on almost any report.
“The farm’s owner is farming oriented, therefore diversification is not a priority, though this may have to change with the regression of BPS. Making profit without the scheme will not be straightforward and could be wiped in any year by a single weather event“.Edward cited the years 2017 and 2018 in 2017 his average maize yield was 62t but a lack of rain in 2018 saw this plummet to just 22t!
Edward is waiting to hear back on two new stewardship schemes and has one Countryside Stewardship Scheme ending at the end of the year – renewal is in discussion. Edward is not particularly excited by the Sustainable Farming Incentive and feels that it is weighted towards no till farming.
Unlike many farming businesses, the farm’s owners are looking to streamline its property portfolio rather than grow it. When Edward joined the business there were 30 properties, now there are just over 20. The rental income and repair management for these properties is carefully managed by Kati using Landmark’s KEYPrime Property software.
The extraordinary decision of “to crop or not to crop” is one now facing many farmers – having the right information in an accessible format to guide this is now more important than ever.
