FW launches new prices and trends service

Farmers Weekly is this week giving a major overhaul to the way we report market prices, introducing a new-look Prices and Trends section at the back of the magazine.

The re-launch marks the culmination of a year-long process that has involved detailed research into what farmers want in terms of market information, and a fresh look at how it is presented to best effect.

From our research we identified three key demands from our readers – to improve the clarity of the tables, to offer comment and analysis alongside the raw data, and to include more information on farm inputs.

This we have now delivered.

First and foremost, we’ve made the tables and graphs easier to read. In most cases we’ve been able to increase font size, while giving them a more open and fresher feel.

We’ve also tried to group things together so that tables that are relevant to the same sector are found on the same page. For example, the first page is dedicated to the arable sector, while the second page covers deadweight prices and slaughterings.

We have bolstered our dairy coverage, including a condensed version of the DairyCo milk price league table, and the monthly round-up of dairy commodity prices and producer numbers.

To meet farmers’ second demand, we are also including weekly market commentary, covering the grain trade, the meat/livestock sector and dairy markets. For example, this week we look at the effect of grain stocks on the wheat market, the reasons behind an upturn in the live lamb price and the prospects for the global dairy market.

And then there is the Inputs Price Monitor – our collaboration with the NFU to bring you average prices for key farm inputs such as fuel, electricity and ag-chems. The results of the June survey are included in the new Prices and Trends section, shining a useful light on the inputs market. We are now looking for farmers to complete the July survey form to generate the next set of data.

The re-lauch in the magazine is just part of an on-going process. In the coming months we will also be beefing up our on-line offering, to offer FWi users more comprehensive and up-to-date price information.

For a Farmers Weekly comment see Phil Clarke’s Business Blog