Why Farmers Need to Understand Commodity Market Trends

The world of commodities trading might seem far removed from that of farming. One is an active vocation, involving getting out into the fields, growing things, and ultimately selling them. The other is a more abstract pursuit, which largely involves dealing with charts and numbers.

But the link between the two is obvious. When the price of a given commodity changes, it can have ripple effects that might push up production costs – or push down the amount you’re able to charge for the goods you produce.

The deeper your knowledge of market trends, the better your decisions will tend to be. If you feel that the long-term future of a given crop is promising, then you might invest in machinery to assist in growing it. For example, when the price of wheat is pushed up by a war in Ukraine, owning the right machinery might allow a farmer in the UK to capitalise.

We might also consider the potential impact of international trade barriers, which might be thrown up in a new age of tariffs. This might create problems for certain kinds of farmer – but opportunities for others. Being aware of what’s going on, and what the implications are, can make a big difference.

Tools and Resources for Tracking Market Trends

Staying on top of market trends can be a daunting thing – at least, to begin with. You don’t need an exhaustive understanding of all of the arcane terms involved. You can rely on the information you get from farmer co-operatives and agricultural advisors – or, you can look for instruction from books, and platforms like Youtube.

In the modern age, the proliferation of smartphone apps makes it possible for rural workers to stay on top of market trends, which can ultimately be empowering. Look at commodity trading software platforms, and set up alerts for when the price of the relevant commodities takes a dive – or soars to new heights.

The Broader Economic Impact of Educated Farmers

When farmers understand the state of the market, they’re able to make better decisions – not just for themselves, but for the wider economy. Supply chains become more stable, and disruption more quickly and efficiently dealt with. In the modern, globalised world, farmers in the UK are more exposed to events in distant countries than ever before – and being able to understand the shape of the challenge can be vital.

The climate crisis affects us all – especially future generations. As the institutions primarily responsible for educating our young people, many schools are working hard to teach pupils about sustainability and adopt more climate-friendly habits. Organisations like the Green Schools Project and Let’s Go Zero are partnering with UK educational leaders to embed climate education into their curriculums and help them become more sustainable through a range of training, support and resources.

Schools are also under increasing pressure from the Government, parents and pupils to mitigate their own climate impact. Estimates suggest that in England alone, schools account for around 9.4 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year. In its Sustainability and Climate Change strategy, the UK Government says that by 2025 every education setting must have nominated a ‘sustainability lead’ responsible for putting climate action plans in place.

The education sector is tackling these challenges while dealing with ever tightening budgets, while the ‘green transition’ is often discussed as something that must involve higher costs and lower standards. Yet there are many ways schools can reduce their climate impact without sacrifice, and recent data shows when it comes to schools’ educational hardware – lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), higher value and improved sustainability can all go hand in hand.

How educational hardware can reduce schools’ environmental impact

As education becomes increasingly digital, many schools are using more laptops and other mobile devices as part of their teaching, and the hardware choices schools make can have a significant impact on their carbon footprint.

In a recent research report, Hardware TCO Concerns Driving a Flight to Quality, Microsoft interviewed IT decision-makers (ITDMs) across a range of organisations, including those from the education sector, to better understand their views in the current purchasing environment.

The findings revealed the average laptop lifecycle is now 3.2 years, but encouragingly, 74% of ITDMs are looking to stretch this out, with an extension of 1-2 years being planned by most (63%).

Why? Because, as 76% of respondents agree, reducing hardware purchase frequency saves money. This also makes a clear contribution to schools’ sustainability efforts by reducing consumption and waste, although it’s worth noting the extent to which improving TCO and sustainability by extending lifecycle length is dependent on build quality.

Indeed, the top three features that respondents to our TCO research consider important, are:

1. Reliability – including consistent performance, without failure (58%)
2. High specifications – including device power, speed, and battery life (56%)
3. Durability – including the ability to withstand wear and tear (58%)

Durability and repairability are also deeply intertwined. As part of Microsoft’s commitments to become carbon negative, water positive and achieve zero waste by 2030, the Surface portfolio is circular by design, adopting a repair, reuse and recycle model that minimises waste and helps to extend the lifespan of devices for as long as possible.

The recently launched Surface Go 4, for example, is ideal for primary school students. It’s highly portable and lightweight for carrying between classes, includes touch and inking – so students can write, draw, take handwritten notes, and mark up assignments, and has an HD camera for virtual classes as well as a long-lasting battery for the whole school day. Internally, Surface Go 4 has undergone a total redesign to make it even more repairable – everything from the display, kickstand, motherboard, battery and more – can all be replaced.

So, by choosing Surface devices, schools can demonstrate their proactive commitment to sustainability.

Microsoft also publishes device reports for every single Surface model, detailing the carbon cost of designing and building the device. Itsfree online Emissions Calculator allows educational organisations to fully understand the impact of using devices on their own CO2 output, helping them carry out transparent carbon accounting and ESG reporting more easily.

While the average estimated carbon footprint of a laptop is around 422.5kg over a four year lifespan, around 80% of this comes during production, so being able to repair or delay a new purchase because a device is durable and powerful enough to last – has a big impact.

It’s also encouraging to see that, thanks to the circular design and energy efficiency of the Surface range, as well as using 94% recycled packaging – the highly repairable Surface Pro 9 has less than half the average carbon footprint, at 190kg over four years.

School IT leaders know how to make hardware budgets go further

Whether you’re a head of school focused on delivering modern learning experiences while maximising value, or a bursar responsible for strategic investment in assets – hardware spend and choice really matters.

Our TCO research demonstrates just how well the vast majority of IT leaders appreciate this – 84% of UK ITDMs continue to invest specifically in premium devices because of the total cost savings they can bring, showing a clear understanding of the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). And 89% explicitly say TCO is a consideration when deciding what hardware to buy.

This is because school ITDMs appreciate that when it comes to device quality, customers get what they pay for: 83% say buying low-end laptops means you pay more for maintenance and repairs in the long run, and 85% say they end up effectively costing more due to poorer efficiency.

More than eight out of ten (84%) respondents say when it comes to hardware, if you buy well – you buy once, and 85% say investing in premium laptops also helps reduce spending on peripherals.

These views are backed up by additional research from IDC, which was commissioned by Microsoft to independently and extensively investigate the ROI of Surface devices powered by M365. IDC conducted in-depth interviews and surveyed 700 organisations, all of which use at least 150 Surface Laptops, and found they delivered an ROI of 2.8x over three years.

Microsoft and IDC have created a free online TCO calculator, for school IT leaders to check for themselves how Surface and Microsoft 365 can save money by simplifying operations, reducing security risks, and improving productivity.

The analyst group Forrester was also commissioned to carry out an independent study into the total economic impact of Surface devices in education and found an average ROI of 44%. This was due to a range of time savings for teachers, administrators, and IT staff – as well as cost savings from retiring unnecessary peripherals and solutions, reduced chance of a security breach, and reduced deployment, peripherals, and software licensing costs.

For example, using digital inking rather than printing on paper (which by itself saved UK boarding school – Wellington College, £120 per device), sharing online resources rather than hardcopy textbooks, being able to use in-built cameras rather than buying add on webcams… All these savings add up. Not to mention the higher residual and resale value that more premium, recyclable, and repairable devices command.

Finally,  surface devices come pre-installed with Windows 11 Pro, Microsoft 365 (which includes Microsoft Teams), and tools for the IT team, like Windows Autopilot. All too often, essential software and IT management tools are sold as expensive paid add-ons.

Better for students, better for budgets, and better for the planet

By leveraging the expertise of school IT leaders, and focusing on value as well as price, educational organisations can play their part in building a cleaner, greener future while continuing to modernise the learning experience and improving educational outcomes for pupils.

With a sound appreciation for total cost of ownership and the realities of pupils and teachers’ everyday lives, it’s easier to see how value and sustainability really do go hand in hand.

If you’d like to learn more about how the Surface portfolio could work for your school – please visit the Microsoft homepage for UK educational organisations.

But what does the rise of ‘EdTech’ actually mean for the people who use it every day? Put simply: better outcomes. As devices like laptops and tablets become as much a part of the school day as pens and pencils, the majority of educational leaders report a broad range of benefits. More interactive, multimedia-rich lessons are leading to higher levels of engagement and enjoyment among students. Teachers can use digital solutions to plan more effectively and even tailor content to individual pupils. And a broad range of accessibility tools is creating an increasingly inclusive and equitable learning environment for all.

As Paul Stone, CEO of Leicestershire’s Discovery Trust, puts it: “The more you engage with technology, the more impact you see. Teachers are more excited about the job…and the educational opportunity for children is limitless.”

Counting value, not just costs

Yet there are challenges too. Despite the exciting potential of EdTech, many UK educational institutions remain constrained by tightening budgets. Research by the National Foundation for Educational Research reveals almost half of primary schools and special schools in England (49% and 48% respectively) and two-fifths of secondary schools (41%) had or were expecting an in-year deficit in 2022/23. Meanwhile, DfE data suggests 91% of schools have taken measures to cut spending since the cost-of-living crisis began.

Faced with the need to balance financial probity with delivering better, more tech-enabled learning experiences, schools are understandably keen to ensure their IT investments deliver the maximum educational bang for their buck. Yet rather than focus on minimising cost at a point of purchase, the key for leaders and budget holders is to consider long-term value over short-term expense.

Encouragingly, a new Microsoft research report reveals this is already beginning to happen. It found a growing appreciation of the importance of total cost of ownership (TCO) among leaders and IT decision-makers across a range of sectors, including education. Nine in ten (89%) respondents explicitly cited TCO as a consideration when deciding what hardware to buy while 84% agreed that ‘if you buy well, you buy once’. The vast majority (85%) also said opting for premium laptops helps reduce spending on peripherals like keyboards, mice and printers. And rightly so. Switching to digital inking saved Wellington College around £120 per device thanks to no longer having to buy printer paper and toner.

A premium experience for all

In other words, the right investment in the right premium devices, such as Microsoft’s Surface laptops or 2 in 1s can improve life in the classroom while at the same time delivering greater long-term value for school budgets. Here’s how:

Enhanced productivity – An independent study by Forrester on the impact of Surface devices in education found they save students around 20 minutes a week and teachers around two hours. This leaves them free to focus on teaching and learning rather than wasting their energy on time-consuming administrative tasks. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of schools also report improved engagement among students as a result of using Surface.

Student-teacher collaboration – Integration with tools like Microsoft Teams and OneDrive enables seamless communication and collaboration between teachers and learners on live versions of documents, presentations and worksheets. This leads to more tailored, real-time feedback and, ultimately, better work. To the point that half (49%) of teachers say technology has made a positive impact on how they work with their students.

Longer lifespans – Microsoft’s TCO report found the average lifecycle of a laptop is just 3.2 years. Yet to help make their finances go further, 74% of IT decision makers want to increase that by at least a year or two, with no drop-off in performance. Reliability and durability also outstrip low price as their key considerations when investing in hardware. The Surface Laptop 5 is Microsoft’s most repairable laptop to date while the new Surface Pro 9 is its most repairable 2 in 1, with replaceable components including the display, battery, kickstand, camera and speaker.

Equitable opportunities – Nearly three-quarters (72%) of UK schools support students with individual learning needs, ranging from neurodiversities to visual and auditory impairments. Surface devices have built-in accessibility tools designed to let all students participate fully in their learning. “The accessibility tools have really changed the lives of our students with special educational needs,” explains Caty Reid, Principal of Clayton Hall Academy and Digital Transformation Lead for the United Endeavour Trust in Staffordshire. “One of our students has significant visual impairment and, previously, staff magnified worksheets onto A3 sheets of paper so she could read the materials more easily. Now she uses a device to independently magnify her work to the level she needs. She no longer feels singled out and she’s really flourished because of it.”

Investing in the future

This combination of productivity, versatility, longevity and security (Surface devices are proven to help reduce the frequency of impactful cyberattacks by an average of 34%)  adds up to an impressive return on schools’ investment. In fact, the same Forrester study calculated the average ROI on a Surface purchase in education is 44%. This is defined by productivity improvements for all users, lower total costs, time savings for staff, device cost reduction, fewer security breaches and better student performance.

This figure is key. After all, in many ways the education sector has humanity’s greatest responsibility: equipping today’s young people with the skills, knowledge and confidence to thrive tomorrow. And as schools seek to deliver on this mission while balancing their books at the same time, success will increasingly hinge on having the right technologies at the fingertips of both students and staff alike.

By viewing IT hardware through the lens of TCO, UK education leaders and IT decision-makers can create richer, better experiences for learners. They can increase efficiency, productivity and job satisfaction among teachers. And they can make their money go further too. Put simply, they can help shape a brighter future for everyone. Never has the phrase ‘return on investment’ been more relevant. Nor more important.

Visit Microsoft’s dedicated education homepage or use this free online TCO calculator to discover how the Surface portfolio could help deliver greater value for your school’s students, teachers and budget.