OVER 300 farmers have signed up to Arla’s new R500 programme to help 'future proof' their farms and increase their resilience to the impact of volatile milk prices.

The project is shaped by evidence from across Arla's farms which has demonstrated that overall profitability can be enhanced when farmers are better informed and able to adjust to changes in market demand.

Arla Foods UK senior director of member relations Graham Wilkinson said: “Market volatility is inevitable in our industry. At Arla, our good growth strategic focus to drive our brands is mitigating against some of this impact, as will our calcium programme, but we’ve also seen that where our owners take a more holistic approach to their businesses they are better able to adjust. R500 equips farmers with the tools and peer support to enable this.

"The Arla R500 resilience project will see Arla farmers work together through knowledge sharing and benchmarking using the R500 scorecard which is calculated out of a maximum 500 score. The evaluation provides the farmer with an holistic view of their business highlighting strengths and challenges.

“Resilience is not just about financial and technical knowledge," he stressed. "The R500 programme goes further to look at aspects such as leadership, people skills, strategic ability and attitude to change. Looking at a business in this way will highlight where efficiency and profitability can be improved."

Mr Wilkinson added: “The industry is still adjusting to the removal of EU milk quotas, and this, on top of volatile global milk prices and Brexit uncertainty means farmers tend to sit in one of two camps; successful at capitalising when times were good or successful at planning for and mitigating against risk.

“At Arla, we’ve found that farmers who are able to adapt more easily between these two approaches are more sustainable."