Price is the biggest driver of farm profitability and UK businesses have become increasingly exposed to market volatility. HGCA has a large range of activities to help growers identify their costs and manage their price risk.
HGCA's business management tools are there to help reduce uncertainty and are available for you to access either individually at your own pace or through an Arable Business Group where the information can be tailored to group needs.
CropBench is a free computer based cost management tool that enables growers to calculate costs of production and gross margins for combinable crops. In addition to this users can upload information securely via the internet and make confidential comparisons to group, regional and national data.
Funding through the Agricultural Development Scheme has enabled HGCA to provide Price Risk Management training across the country. This is designed to improve understanding and uptake of Price Risk Management among growers. Planned specifically for growers, our half-day interactive workshops cover the strengths and weaknesses of alternative Price Risk Management strategies and the role of futures and options.
You can keep up-to-date with what's happening in the markets by subscribing to HGCA's weekly Market Report. Visit the Markets home page for more information including access to the Market Data Centre, for archived information on market trends and statistics, showing fluctuations in supply and demand.
HGCA provides a number of tools to help growers establish their costs and check them against the overall market. These include the Seed Cost Calculator which allows growers to look at all the costs involved in producing farm-saved seed and, therefore, to arrive at a realistic total cost. You can also help to monitor costs by ensuring that you are applying the Appropriate Fungicide Dose using HGCA's useful online calculator.
The Farm Income Monitor takes this process a step further allowing growers to monitor farm income using standard industry costs and current market prices.
To make sure that you keep up-to-date with all the latest developments in this area visit HGCA's Crop Research home page. | 
