Red Tractor launches poultry standards consultation – have your say
Red Tractor has launched a six-week consultation on proposed changes to its farm assurance standards for poultry.
Summary
- 10 November 2026: Red Tractor’s Poultry Standards consultation opens – have your say
The changes reflect feedback received from across the poultry sector and aim to make the standards clearer and more proportionate, as well as prioritising health and welfare outcomes.
Each farm, catching and transport requirement has been reviewed, justified and agreed upon by representatives from across the supply chain and farmers on Red Tractor's Poultry TAC (Technical Advisory Committee) and the Sector Board.
The consultation closes on 22 December.
“The NFU has three representatives on the Red Tractor Poultry Sector Board, helping to ensure poultry farmers’ voices are fully reflected as these proposals are considered and help build an assurance system that works for producers, consumers and the wider supply chain.”
NFU Poultry Board Chair Will Raw
Understanding the proposals
Key changes involved in the proposals are as follows:
- Making bird health and welfare more farm-specific – producers and their vets to agree on indicators and intervention levels using the flock health plan to guide monitoring and corrective action that makes sense for your farm.
- Ensuring standards work across chicken, duck and turkey production – reducing duplication and providing clarity as to what applies to each species and enterprise.
- Reducing the burden of the environmental permitting process – taking existing permitting into account instead of reassessing the same environmental requirements from scratch.
- Updating requirements to reflect the modern poultry sector – removing outdated requirements which no longer align with industry best practice and do not reflect current production systems, technologies and management approaches.
Why your feedback matters
Your feedback matters – the TAC and Sector Board will consider all responses before the final standards are agreed in late 2027.
The proposed standards will affect your business and now is your chance to help shape them.
Take part
Red Tractor launches poultry standards consultation
Red Tractor launches its six-week consultation on proposed changes to Poultry standards.
NFU Poultry Board Chair Will Raw said: “The UK poultry sector is a progressive and innovative one with food safety, bird health and animal welfare at the heart of what we do every day. This consultation provides an opportunity to ensure standards continue to reflect modern production while remaining practical and effective on farm.
“The NFU has three representatives on the Red Tractor Poultry Sector Board, helping to ensure poultry farmers’ voices are fully reflected as these proposals are considered and help build an assurance system that works for producers, consumers and the wider supply chain.
“We would encourage all poultry producers to engage with the consultation and help shape standards that support confidence in British poultry production while remaining proportionate and workable for our farming businesses.”
Poultry producers, vets, advisers and wider industry stakeholders are being invited to scrutinise and provide feedback on the proposals and how they would work in practice before any changes are finalised.
All responses will be considered before the final standards are agreed.