Livestock farmers are being encouraged to embrace new technology and ensure that they are making the most of all farm data to increase profitability.

Rob Massey, managing director of Tru-Test which specialises in weighing, EID and fencing, said: “It’s a fact that only 10% of UK livestock farmers weigh anything – yet, if you were harvesting grain, you‘d never sell it off the farm without knowing what it weighed. The only gauge is the market or abattoir, but by then it’s too late – you’ve missed any opportunity to get it right.

“When you have a worm burden, lameness, mastitis or any disease issue you’ll see a dip in growth rates. But, if you aren’t monitoring them, and you’re just guessing weights, there’s room for a huge margin of error.”

Mr Massey believes that data should drive every aspect of a farm business. He says he’s seen examples of farmers asked to ‘guess’ the weight of a live animal at a demonstration, and that with dairy and beef cattle they can be up to 200kgs out.

He said: “No other business would not measure output. Dairy farmers know what milk they are sending off farm, but liveweight gain is another matter altogether.

“I don’t understand this reluctance to embrace technology. I think a lot of it is tradition – ‘my grandfather or my father’ always did it this way. We’re not mathematicians so we have calculators – and in this case, there shouldn’t be a farm without an ability to weigh the stock.”

Mr Massey acknowledges that there is an issue with wormer resistance, for example, and says giving the right dosage, based on weight, is one of the key reasons behind this.

Money invested in weighing equipment can be paid back by money saved on wormers and vaccinations and this can get heifers back on track bulling and calving at the right weights.

He concluded: “This isn’t about saying that farmers aren’t good at judging the weight of their animals, it’s about making their life easier, and ensuring they use the latest technology to best effect. Make life easier by investing in the future, so you make the right, and accurate, business decisions.”