Industry split over future approach to Red Tractor

Industry bodies remain split over the future for Red Tractor, with a call from AHDB to consolidate all the planned reviews into one going unheeded.

Since the British Retail Consortium announced the planned introduction of Red Tractor’s “bolt-on” voluntary environmental module, the Greener Farms Commitment (GFC), AHDB has begun work on various reviews into assurance, both in the cereals/oilseeds sectors and the sheep/beef sectors.

See also: Red Tractor calls temporary halt to Greener Farms Commitment

Meanwhile, the NFU has announced it will be carrying out two of its own reviews – one into Red Tractor governance and the other on the future of farm assurance more broadly.

Farmers Weekly has seen a copy of a letter sent by AHDB chairman Nicholas Saphir to his counterpart at Red Tractor, Christine Tacon, dated 27 October, where he urged her to convene a meeting of the Red Tractor Ownership Body.

Consolidation

“At that meeting, we intend to propose that the Red Tractor Ownership Body agree to institute an independent review. This would consolidate all the recent requests for reviews rather than risk fragmentation,” he wrote.

“We consider that the Ownership Body is the appropriate group, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, to agree the terms of reference. They should also be prepared, if required, to fund the review. AHDB certainly is prepared to bear our share.”

Mr Saphir suggested the review should be conducted independently of the Ownership Body, “to give credibility and substance to any resulting conclusions”.

Areas covered should include audits, assurance standards above legal regulations, trade, Red Tractor’s effectiveness as a brand, premiums and the value of information – but he acknowledged others would want to contribute further suggestions for its remit.

Statement

On 31 October, however, four days after receiving AHDB’s letter, Red Tractor issued its own statement welcoming both NFU reviews and apologising for being “slow to understand” members’ views.

In the statement, it was also agreed that implementation of the GFC and any other new standards or modules would be paused until the first NFU review, looking only at governance, had been completed.

Red Tractor refused to comment on why this pause was not extended until the second, broader review into assurance as a whole was also finished.