Beef farmers supplying cattle to ABP Food Group (ABP) have recently been issued a ‘Beef Benchmark Report’ from the processor.
Approximately 5,000 ABP suppliers received the report which features data on all cattle the farmer slaughtered with ABP in 2022.
The report aims to offer suppliers ‘a bird’s eye view’ of their beef herd performance and to help farmers identify opportunities “to increase revenue and reduce their carbon footprint”, according to ABP.
How the report will appear:
The beef processor has said the report, which was first issued last year, “was the first of its kind globally” and provides carcass and greenhouse gas (GHG) data on an individual animal basis.
The processor has said that the report can be used by farmers “as a tool to measure the performance of the animals slaughtered in their herd against a number of key performance indicators (KPIs)”.
According to ABP, the report aims to:
- Enhance visibility over herd performance;
- Allow beef farmers to see how their herd ‘stacks up’ against the national average;
- Increase farm revenue;
- Reduce carbon emissions from beef herds.
Each farmer’s herd performance will be benchmarked against the ABP national average and the top 10% of all animals slaughtered at ABP sites.
The report will allow farmers to benchmark their on-farm performance against other farmers for a number of KPIs including:
- Carcass weight;
- Age at slaughter;
- Average daily gain;
- Fluke and Abscess;
- Carbon footprint.
The beef processor has also outlined that the report “is aligned with ABP’s focus on genetic improvement” and will also compare beef animals within a herd using the new Commercial Beef Index.
The report also aims to highlight the importance of breeding and buying high-index animals to increase carcass quality and reduce age at slaughter.
The processor has said that this, in turn, will “increase revenue for your farm and reduce the carbon footprint within your farmgate”.
The processor also noted that the report is based on research from the ABP Demonstration Farm and focuses on “putting research into action”. It will also form part of the processor’s Advantage Beef Programme.