More welfare inspections will be unannounced
Calls for more stringent policing of farm assurance schemes following accusations of poor welfare practices on a farm in Bedfordshire could result in more unannounced on-farm inspections.
The Red Tractor scheme yesterday said that it would be reviewing its inspection regime in the wake of newspaper reports of investigations into the behaviour of workers on a pig farm – which revealed that less than one on a thousand of the organisation’s audits were unannounced.
It added that an internal task force had been set up to “examine the efficacy” of unannounced spot checks on farmers under its remit.
However, the organisation claimed that, despite more than 60,000 “robust” inspections being carried out each year, a small number of producers might breach the rules. But it claimed that the assurance scheme stacked up well against its international competitors – and made it clear that certification had been withdrawn from the farm in question.
“This behaviour will not be tolerated by Red Tractor and those discovered are removed from the scheme as was the case with Rosebury Farm,” said a Red Tractor spokesman.
He said that while the
reports had been distressing, the health and welfare of animals was crucial to Red Tractor. He added that to avoid unnecessary suffering or pain, farmers sometimes had to humanely dispatch casualty animals and this was accepted by other assurance schemes including the RSPCA.
“Red Tractor work to ensure the highest standards are maintained and the British public can be confident that the vast majority of our farmers are proud of the work they do, producing great food for us all to enjoy,” he said.
Quality Meat Scotland (QMS), which handles the majority of livestock assurance certifications north of the Border, yesterday said that while it operated independently from the Red Tractor scheme it worked closely with its counterparts with a view to sharing knowledge for the benefit of the wider UK red meat industry. The organisation’s chief executive, Alan Clarke, said it had been extremely disappointing to see the sort of examples of apparent poor animal welfare which had been given media attention in the past few days.
“It is vital, however, that the thousands of farmers up and down the country who are working hard to make high standards of welfare a priority are not disheartened by the flurry of press interest around these isolated examples of bad practice,” he said.
He added that Scottish livestock farmers were rightly proud of their role in prioritising animal welfare. “The quality assurance standards which underpin our industry’s brands cover the entire life of the animal and include farm, feeds, haulage, auction markets and processors. We also work very closely with the Scottish SPCA to ensure animal welfare remains a high priority and this is formalised in our Animal Welfare and Wellbeing Charter.”
Clarke said that while most farm assessments undertaken for QMS were arranged in advance, the organisation also conducted unannounced audits when it felt these were required, such as when potential concerns had been raised.