AHDB shutting down Farmbench data service in September

The AHDB has confirmed it will close its Farmbench benchmarking service on 30 September 2026, citing falling levy income and the need to prioritise investment in new digital tools.

The service, used by arable, beef and sheep farmers to compare production costs and profitability, will remain available until that date to allow users to complete work relating to the 2024-25 production year and download reports and data.

The AHDB said the Cereals and Oilseeds and Beef and Lamb sector councils had taken the decision in order to “focus investment on new services that would make benchmarking more widely available”, while also responding to tighter budgets.

See also: Tips on getting the most from benchmarking to drive profit

Farmers Weekly understands Farmbench currently has only about 300 active users, with declining participation said to be a factor behind the closure.

The AHDB said poor cereals and oilseeds harvests in recent years had reduced levy income, while lower beef and sheep numbers had also cut funding available to sustain the joint service.

“Hard prioritisation choices have had to be made,” the levypayer organisation said.

Farmbench has operated for years as a free, online benchmarking platform for levypayers, allowing UK farmers to compare their enterprise’s financial and physical performance against similar businesses, identify strengths and weaknesses, and improve efficiency across crops and livestock.

It also supported discussion groups where farmers compared costs and management decisions.

Replacement options

The AHDB said it was investigating replacement options, including systems capable of automatic data sharing from farm software, although any successor platform is unlikely to be ready before winter 2026-27.

Mike Gooding, interim AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds sector director, said: “The sector council recognises the value of benchmarking information.

“But we have to find a way of engaging with more levypayers with a tool that does require investment.

“There will be ways in the future to help people more to pull data together.”