Editor’s View: Time for Red Tractor to find reverse gear
© GNP The dam has sprung a leak.
Farming officialdom – in the form of the NFU, NFU Scotland, Ulster Farmers’ Union and AHDB – has finally recommended Red Tractor’s Greener Farms Commitment (GFC) be scrapped.
It has taken years of farmer unhappiness with Red Tractor, months of outcry over the proposed GFC, and just a few days of Tom Bradshaw as NFU president.
See also: Farm bodies move to kill off Red Tractor green module
About the author
It is still not a done deal.
These organisations make up four of the six members of the ownership body, with the others being Dairy UK (the membership body for milk processors) and the British Retail Consortium (the trade association for retailers).
So they have a majority there.
However, their power is largely limited in normal times to scrutinising accounts of, and appointing directors to, the Assured Food Standards (AFS) board, which is the real 18-strong management body of Red Tractor.
The unions just have one combined seat, held by the NFU, and the AHDB is also represented alongside a wider selection of industry figures.
It previously unanimously approved the development of the GFC, to the eventual tune of £295,000.
So this sets the stage nicely for a lively AFS boardroom battle at their next meeting at the end of this month, were the majority to still support proceeding with GFC development.
What would the unions and AHDB do at that point? It’s highly possible that they would feel compelled to walk away from Red Tractor and encourage their membership to do likewise.
Nothing short of a genuine threat of a mass exodus is likely to make the GFC true believers – such as Red Tractor chief executive Jim Moseley and chair Christine Tacon – consider deviating course.
All this is for the future. It may not come to that. But what can be said with some certainty is that this week is a victory for ordinary farmers making their voices heard.
There is an awful lot of red tape farmers have to comply with.
Some of it is good and useful in maintaining the confidence of customers in our product. Some of it imposes needless cost and hassle for no discernible benefit.
But if in the past, governments and retailers have quietly taken a view that almost anything can be imposed on farmers as they are too feeble to fight back, then 2024 has shown them otherwise.
From the protests in Cardiff to the boardroom battles at the NFU Council and Red Tractor, we have seen the hints of power and impact membership organisations that truly represent the interests of the rank and file can have.
Long may it continue.