The Red Tractor Review

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Alice Bathard (FCG WhiteAvon)

Farm assurance is something that the majority of farms in the UK deal with, whether it be Red Tractor, milk buying audits, or RSPCA.  If farmers wish to sell their milk or produce to their desired market, these audits are often unavoidable.

One could argue that farmers should be farming in the correct way anyway, so the audits are simply giving the buyer and consumer peace of mind.  However, with many farmers feeling like they are jumping through unnecessary hoops, it is getting harder and harder for farmers to get through these audits whilst also trying to produce high quality food.  With the current importance of mental health in agriculture, aspects like these add to the many pressures that farmers already face.

After a recent independent review, Red Tractor has been found to be overly complicated and to add additional stress to farmers.  To conclude the 9-month review, Red Tractor has been given nine strategy recommendations in order to simplify the process and allow farmers to have their say in the development of standards.  These recommendations include on-farm audits must be reduced, simplified and delivered more consistently, and schemes need to reset and/or restate their structures to establish farmers as the driving voice in standards development.

If farmers can feel like they are included within the audit process, this will remove the idea of audits being the “make or break” of their business and change the way farmers perceive it.  Red Tractor have said they will fully discuss the findings before responding, so we can only hope that they take these findings on board and finally put farmers in the driving seat.

For any Red Tractor queries or issues, contract Alice at alicebathard@fcgagric.com or your local FCG Office.

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