Previously, data in farming has been limited. However, nowadays on-farm the data collection points are endless. Farmers can collect and access a huge amount of data about fields, inputs, yields, and more! Widespread internet access availability has allowed for on-farm data to be accessed in real-time, enabling farmers to utilise this data to continually drive their business forward and make important decisions efficiently. Recently, there has been a lot of new advances in financial software, using a cloud-based system which means that farmers can access reports, invoices, and payment information on the go. We have already seen first-hand the improvement this has made in helping to keep the books up to date without taking too much time away from the daily farm tasks. Moving forward, the availability of data on-farm is only going to increase, so understanding how to best utilise it will be beneficial as technology continues to develop.

Why is data collection important?

In order to regularly access and analyse your current business’ position, it is important to collect sufficient data to be able to achieve strong correlations and judgments. This, in turn, paints a clearer picture as to where the farm is at in achieving its goals.

Thanks to Covid-19, more people in the agricultural industry have had time to get their processes in place when it comes to collecting data, and really understand what it means. This has put them in a strong position to continue tracking, monitoring, and making those all-important decisions with the confidence that the finances can support this.

How can data help make informed business decisions and provide evidence for the effective running of farms?

Companies that leverage data to drive decision-making often gain a competitive advantage by reducing business costs and therefore increasing profit. You are probably thinking but, how?

Well, this is due to them having the information to analyse trends and make decisions for the future based on what has worked in the past. Also, having digital data, such as invoices and bank statements, has made it much easier when it comes to monitoring management information.

If you are looking for support with understanding your data, or you think you could benefit but you are not sure how, please get in touch with a member of the Brightshire team today.