Red Tractor scheme’s latest drive to raise animal welfare

The dry weather continues with frosty mornings, a little bit of sunshine here and there, but mostly dull. However it is dry and that is the most important thing after quite a wet spell. The frost is slowing things down now, but otherwise over Christmas and New Year the grass was still growing and the fields were a good colour. That may change now, but it is mid-January and what else do we expect?

We now have the data for 2020 weather and it is being hailed as remarkable. 2020 was the third warmest year since 1884, the sixth wettest since 1862, and the eighth sunniest since sunshine records began in 1929. Whilst much is being made of this and its proof of climate change, it seems to me that it is typical of British weather and its vagaries as we look to see what 2021 brings.

In its first move to write new regulation, Defra is paving the way for gene editing as a coherent, science and evidence-based policy. Gene editing is banned by the EU as it is included with and treated in the same way as genetic modification, which is very different. The ruling grated with many and Defra is now consulting on change. Unlike genetic modification, gene editing does not contain DNA from other species; they involve changes which speed up what we do currently in plant and animal breeding.

Gene editing does offer other advantages in that disease resistance could be increased and other advantages to mitigate climate change. This is being hailed by government as a watershed moment and whilst it is very exciting, all controls will still be in place in order to regulate the licensing of gene-edited food. The consultation runs until March 17.

Announcing its fifth major upgrade since the Red Tractor farm assurance scheme was launched in 2000, the aim of Red Tractor’s latest consultation is to raise animal welfare in-line with consumer expectations, evolving the scheme and making sure it is relevant in 2021. This is an important move in order to improve British farm animal welfare and make sure retail buyers value the Red Tractor and continue to use it and not develop their own schemes or worse, buy on price alone often outside the UK.

The Red Tractor scheme visits farms and enforces its standards, just in the same way as it will pick Red Tractor products from retail shelves and trace it back to the farm of origin. No one else in the world has a scheme like this with such stringent checks and yet it comes in for plenty of criticism from everyone.

Farmers don’t like the bureaucracy associated with such a scheme, the reality is of course that in order to have robust data, information must be available on farms and time spent keeping records and complying with the scheme. Some farmers have always moaned that Red Tractor does not give them a better price and when non Red Tractor stock is sold for the same money, one sees their point.

All dairy farms are Red Tractor assured as processors and retailers insist on it, but only half the beef and lamb farmers are registered. This is due to many farms producing store cattle and store lambs which are bought and fattened on other farms which are Red Tractor assured. However, lifetime assurance is a battle they will likely lose in the end and all animals will need to be covered by the scheme eventually I suspect.

Meat processors also fail to see why all animals need to be under the scheme, claiming that there is no market demand for it. The irony is of course that they are the market demand in this instance and have no wish to add cost to what they buy; happy to supply Red Tractor assured to major supermarkets and other retailers, but no such concern when supplying the catering companies and large food distribution companies.

These are the very companies which buy on price and are the most likely to buy lower priced food from abroad. When you shop in major supermarkets, you will see Red Tractor everywhere, but when you eat out there is no such assurance apart from a very few who include

Red Tractor on menus and of course McDonalds, which buys all its beef from British Red Tractor assured farms.

The welfare of animals will now be based on outcomes; this means that housing structures and cleanliness is included. Workers’ rights are also included in the proposed consultation with labour exploitation on crop and other farms monitored. The environment is also in the new proposed legislation as one would expect especially water quality, soil erosion and nutrient management.

If farmers are concerned by all this and feel that this is a burden they don’t need at a time of great challenge and general change; I would suggest they pause and consider. Agriculture is under attack from all sides, any large farm is seen as ‘industrial’ and therefore bad, livestock farming is seen by a growing minority as cruel and exploitative, we are also seen as causing major environmental damage and harms from the use of chemicals on crop in the east of the country to the accusations of overgrazing with sheep in the west.

Whilst we all know this is largely nonsense, there is some truth in it and therefore we must ensure we continually raise standards and be seen to be caring, progressive and in tune with society. This will be difficult with the phasing out of farm payments and pressures on our markets, but it is what we must do. Lowering standards in the hope of competing as I have heard one or two prominent people in the industry advocate would not only quickly demonstrate that we have no chance on an international free-for all in many sectors, but we would also lose our valuable British market.

The challenge from Heck, Naked Glory , Meatless Farms, not to mention Impossible Foods, whose CEO Patrick Brown is on a mission to rid the world of stock-farming and fish-farms is, I believe, our biggest threat. Genetically engineered meat is deadly serious business backed by billions of capital funds worldwide and supermarkets are coming under severe pressure to stock more meat and dairy alternatives.

Mr Brown, the former bio-chemistry professor, wants you to stop eating steak, or fish and chips as we know it, and buy his ‘meat’ which has been developed from plants in his laboratories, highly processed and will even ‘bleed’ on your plate! The capital flowing into these companies makes them a real threat to our farming and as they lower the costs of production with scale and new techniques, it is going to be a real challenge.

All the reason therefore to make sure that we farm to the highest standards in this country and look after our customers and the markets they serve. Let’s make sure that any growth which these companies will undoubtedly have displaces other imports and not high quality, high standards British produced food.