Fantasy league to beef up farming profits
A GROUND-breaking initiative designed to provide farmers with an incentive to help the UK’s beef farmers become more profitable has been launched.
The project at Askham Bryan College is pitting 10 farming teams against each as part of a Fantasy Farming Beed League by managing the feeding of calves at the college.
Each team of two beef farmers and one dairy farmer has eight calves to manage from the age of 12 weeks to finishing.
The team which achieves the best results and makes most profit following the sale of their animals will win a trip to Canada to witness the famous Calgary Stampede, worth £10,000.
Askham Bryan College project manager Oliver White, said the scheme will help farmers develop new opportunities for making profits from their livestock while reassuring consumers by providing full product traceability and high animal welfare standards.
“However, the current shortage of imported beef, combined with consumer demands for full product traceability and animal welfare, means that identifying the best methods of rearing these calves for beef is now of real importance to the UK industry,” he added.
The project is being funded by the Rural Development Plan for England, managed by Lantra, and is supported by Anglo Beef Processors and major supermarket chain Asda.
