LENDING an ear is as important as lending a hand for farm book-keeper Siobhan Stainton.

A dairy farmer’s wife from Howgill, she is part of a new team launched by SAC Consulting to help farmers in Cumbria and Northumberland keep on top of their paperwork.

“Farming can be a lonely life,” she said. “Often there is no one to talk things through with and a regular visit from someone from outside, but who understands the life and what running a farm business is like, can make all the difference.”

The mother-of-three was not born into farming, but fell in love with it as a child during on-farm holidays.

She studied for her degree at Newcastle University and, when not involved in running her own farm accounts business, helps her husband, David, on their upland dairy and sheep farm.

While a colleague works out of SAC Consulting’s Wooler office, Siobhan operates in the area around their office in Kendal Livestock Mart – an area and a rural population she knows well.

The Farm Book Keeping service (FBS) is available throughout Cumbria, Lancashire and Northumberland, with plans to extend it to Yorkshire.

It offers monthly bookkeeping and annual budgeting services, helping farmers keep accurate monthly records and track progress against budgets throughout the year.

Siobhan said: “Every farmer and rural business knows it’s important, but if you are working on your own, with calving and lambing or silage-making, it can be hard to find the time.

“A monthly or quarterly visit by a properly-trained person can bring order out of chaos, as one of my clients describes it.

“I can not only get things tidy but, if they want to, can discuss issues that the figures might show up.”

SAC Consulting is part of Scotland’s Rural College with its large network of industry experts and researchers.

If farmers wish to, they can also have access to advice on items such as cutting energy bills, improving their business efficiency and even reducing their carbon footprint.

According to Siobhan, it’s amazing what proper records and accounts show up.

“It’s an old saying that if you can’t measure it you can’t manage it, and farm bookkeeping works that way.

“From proper livestock recording, to health planning and a proper idea of fertiliser costs; they help farmers stay within the regulations and boost the bottom line.”

For more details, contact the SAC Consulting’s office in Kendal on 01688-283363.