Benchmarking can support farmers to improve their productivity and sustainability performance. At its simplest, benchmarking is defined as improving the performance, of a farm, for example, by comparing with peers, learning from others and identifying actions. Valuable lessons can be drawn from benchmarking by raising the subsequent questions: why are others better?, how are others better?, what can be learnt?, and how can the farm catch up? The European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability (EIP-AGRI) aims to stimulate innovation and seeks practical solutions to on–farm problems by bridging the gap between practise and science.