Earlier this year the NFU’s Combinable Crops Board welcomed the UKFAR (Farm Assurance Review). This was a comprehensive review examining farm to fork assurance schemes across the UK to assess whether the schemes are functioning well for farmers and supply chains.
In its response to the consultation, the Board raised a number of concerns and called for a variety of changes to the way farm assurance operates in the combinable crops sector. The report addresses all of these points, notably stating that the cereals sector must decide if a new comprehensive model for the sector should be adopted, which creates a clear mandate for change, particularly within Red Tractor.
Opportunity for a reset
“For the combinable crops sector, farm assurance certification does not provide tangible financial value pre farm gate, nor does it protect UK farmers from unfair competition from imported products.”
NFU Combinable Crops Board Chair Jamie Burrows
The report reflects what the Crops Board are hearing from members, that farm assurance is misaligned with the needs of the combinable crops sector.
Our members agree with the report’s suggestion that meeting farm assurance standards has become a gateway to trading, and the resulting lack of perceived value has created a high level of frustration and scepticism.
The UKFAR is an opportunity for the industry to reset its approach to farm assurance in the combinable crops sector, so that it can once again provide benefit and value to all who operate within it.
For the combinable crops sector, farm assurance certification does not provide tangible financial value pre farm gate, nor does it protect UK farmers from unfair competition from imported products. The impact of this disparity between trade assurance and farm assurance creates a heightened sense of unfairness within the supply chain. The failure to address this is at the heart of the challenges with farm assurance in the sector, and a resolution will only be possible with greater transparency from the supply chain.
A premium for higher standards
The Crops Board argued that the core standards within farm assurance need to reflect legislative requirements, with premium supply chains justifying their need for additional standards and what value they are prepared to place on them.
The value may simply be the milling or malting premium, and the grower is then afforded the choice to decide whether that premium justifies the additional requirements. The report included quotes which members relate closely to, that UK farm assurance standards could align with those accepted for imports, or failing that, the basic legal requirements. Additional requirements could then be met and a premium delivered for those farmers who were producing to higher standards.
Red Tractor have responded to the UKFAR with a proactive approach to change, with the NFU and Red Tractor holding ongoing conversations about how these improvements can be delivered. The onus is on the Red Tractor Combinable Crops Sector Board to drive progress on these changes, with all stakeholders working closely together in a timely manner to produce an effective farm assurance scheme.
Red Tractor response
Red Tractor is clear that future environmental ambitions need to be led by other stakeholders from within the supply chain, and will only provide support within its standards if all stakeholders within the supply chain ask it to do so.
The Crops Board’s position is that farm assurance is highly unlikely to be the mechanism to deliver such ambitions while almost all farmers are required to be assured under the same standards as, at best, the value will not be transparent and, at worst, it will not be passed on to the farmer at all.
Audit burden
Audits were a particular area highlighted, with the frequency of audits and the inconsistency between auditors causing confusion and concern. There is a need to reduce the burden of inspection on farmers to improve profitability and growth, and extending the inspection interval for farms with a good track record would streamline the assessment process.
The existing Red Tractor portal does not work effectively for either farmers or assessors. If the audit burden is to be reduced, the portal needs to provide benefits for all parties. Once it does so, it should be mandated that auditors use the portal if the farmer has chosen to upload their information to it.
The portal should operate in a way which automates large parts of the audit process, enabling real-time updates which can record compliance on the go and throughout the year in readiness for an inspection, without requiring onerous preparation time. Red Tractor has already made significant improvements to the functionality of its portal, and a programme is in place to continue to do so.
NFU role
The current farm assurance marketplace effectively operates with a lack of competition, with Red Tractor the only provider. The lack of competition and choice for farmers and growers means there is less accountability from the assurance body and facing no risk that it will lose farmer members. The UKFAR explained that farmers favoured a degree of choice over which schemes to join, which might in turn stimulate assurance bodies to improve scheme conditions for participants. The Crops Board believes that if the evolution of farm assurance isn’t fast enough there will be calls from the NFU’s membership for an alternative option to be made available.
Farmers in the combinable crops sector are represented on the Red Tractor Combinable Crops Sector Board by NFU Crops Board members. It is these representatives who will be taking these messages to the Sector Board to help shape the future of farm assurance, as well as feeding back outcomes through their farming networks.
To aid these discussions, the Crops Board has already reached out to the other stakeholders around the table on an individual basis, and are pleased to report that all parties to date have been able to find plenty of common ground. Where our views don’t align, debate will take place over an agreed way forward, but will have to do so under the clear mandate for change set out in the UKFAR.
If members would like to learn more about the Crops Board’s position on farm assurance, or share their views with our representatives on the Red Tractor Sector Board, then please do reach out to your regional representatives who will be delighted to speak with you.
