Teagasc Launches New Financial Analysis Service

29 September 2004

A new web-based system which can be used by farmers to assess the profitability of their farms was launched by Teagasc at the National Ploughing Championships in Carlow.

Involving collaboration between Teagasc and IFAC, the major supplier of accounting services to farmers, it can be accessed by farmers using their own home computer and can provide vital information on the strengths and weaknesses of the farm business.

Called the eProfit Monitor, it was described by Dr Tom Kelly, Head of Farm Management and Technology Services with Teagasc, as a major advance in enabling farmers plan and manage their farms. Over 1,000 dairy, drystock and tillage farmers have already used the eProfit Monitor in 2004 and the information has been used by these farmers and their Teagasc advisers in assessing the efficiency of the business and taking necessary corrective action.

Tom Kelly said the new system allows farmers to track trends in farm performance over a number of years as well as benchmarking key performance figures against other farms and against Teagasc target figures.

“This new service is being launched at a time when analysis of the farm business was never more important. In the new era where premia are decoupled from production, beef, sheep and tillage farmers must generate a worthwhile margin, excluding the single farm payment, from actual farming. In dairy farming, the target must be a production cost of less than 11c/litre. Knowing how your business is performing is the first step to achieving these targets.” he said.

Farmers availing of this new financial analysis package are supplied with a confidential username and password. They can access the programme from their home computer.

Farmers without a computer can also participate in the programme by making the financial information for their farm available to their Teagasc adviser.