“Farmers Review offers a great opportunity for real farmer reviews and comparisons between seed varieties”. So says Sarah Lockhart, UK Marketing and Sales Manager of DSV. “The problem with trials results, which the farmers tend to depend upon, is that varieties are grown in perfect conditions” she adds, “ but Farmers Review provides comments based on actual experience with genuine comparisons of attributes.”
In Sarah’s view one of the key benefits of the site is the authenticity of the reviews. “By enforcing an extremely strict code of practice to which all contributors are required to adhere, Farmers Review will avoid irrelevant or dishonest reviews,” she explains, “and we can all be confident that comments are genuine from real farmers and agronomists and will provide the reader with helpful insight. In short, integrity is built into the fabric of Farmers Review.”
She sees the site becoming an increasingly valuable source of information to farmers as more of them visit regularly and share their views. She is also delighted that it provides an ideal route for direct communication between farmers and breeders. “This site provides a simple route for farmers to communicate direct with companies such as DSV if they have technical queries on varieties and we welcome that.”
Derbyshire farmer, Rob Holmes, an early supporter of the site, has similar views and emphasises the importance of honest independent reviews. “When deciding on varieties to sow, it’s very hard to get an unbiased opinion on how the varieties perform on farm and Farmers Review provides the chance to find just that,” he says. “It will become a very useful tool for me with its frank reviews of different varieties of crops, and because they are written by farmers and agronomists then you see the varieties’ true ‘warts and all’ characteristics.”
He confirms that the website is very user-friendly: “The site is very easy to use and navigate and I believe that more features will be added over time so I certainly plan to use it and contribute more in the future.”
Farmers Review will be demonstrating this valuable, revolutionary tool at Cereals so that farmers can see and discuss the benefits of registering at farmersreview.co.uk. The site will soon incorporate reviews of crop sprays and machinery plus manufacturer information in addition to the existing seed varieties section for wheat, barley, oilseed rape and a wide variety of other combinable crops. Over time, it is projected to become the most extensive agricultural knowledge base of its type available in the world.
