28 December 2011

2 minute read

Europe

Hybu Cig Cymru has managed the Rural Development Plan for Wales Economics and Benchmarking project for the past three years, completing a variety of tasks in that time.

"We have been working with the industry to help develop a well informed agricultural sector that will be better placed to make intelligent business decisions to meet market demands," said John Richards, HCC's Industry Information Officer.

"This in turn will help ensure the long term profitability and sustainability of businesses involved in the red meat industry."

Hundreds of businesses have taken part in specific projects, such as benchmarking, Johne's Disease testing and on-farm health surveillance. In addition, the industry has benefitted from an improved information service which includes detailed website information, the publication of monthly market bulletins and a text messaging service.

More than 20,000 text messages giving farmers up-to-date market information are sent every month. In addition, hundreds of businesses have approached HCC directly over the last three years seeking detailed information about various projects and how they can use the information to improve their businesses.

Although the RDP funding has come to an end, some of the services have proven to be so popular that HCC will continue to provide them. These include the text messaging service and market bulletins.

"Many of our services have proven to be extremely popular with the industry, which is why we have taken the decision to continue to provide them," said Mr Richards.

"All the indications are that the entire project has been a success, benefitting individual businesses directly involved in the projects and assisting others when we have analysed and distributed the information that has been gathered," he said.

A detailed report on the success of the project is currently being compiled, and will be published in the New Year.