Red Tractor hits back after pollution claims

Farm assurance body Red Tractor has rejected claims in The Times newspaper that suggested its members “are more likely to pollute the environment”.

Farms with Red Tractor assurance were singled out as some of the worst polluters after a 2020 report by the Environment Agency (EA) was made public, following a freedom of information request by The Times.

The EA report found that Red Tractor-assured farms were less compliant with environmental regulations, with 26% found to be non-compliant, compared with 19% of non-assured farms.

See also: Coffey to look at FSA change in wake of food scandal

The report covered the period from 2014 to 2019, with about 500 farms each year being inspected by the EA, compared with about 60,000 Red Tractor inspections carried out each year.

The Times article also stated that Red Tractor farms were responsible for 62% of the most serious agricultural pollution incidents between 2014 and 2019.

Red Tractor response

However, Red Tractor has dismissed the claims as “inaccurate, misleading and a disservice to Red Tractor dairy farmers”.

“The data in the report actually supports the opposite conclusion,” said a spokesman. 

“For example, the EA report does show that the sector with the largest volume of pollution incidents is dairy. But it also shows that pollution incidents took place on 8% of Red Tractor dairy farms, while there were incidents on 77% of non-Red Tractor dairy farms.

“The EA report was published in 2020 and is based on data up to 2019,” he added.

“Back in 2021, we included a small number of its recommendations into the latest version of our farming standards.

“These set detailed environmental protection requirements for farmers and include requirements around slurry storage and use, for example.

“Where we find issues on farm that are at high risk of causing a pollution incident, we report them to the EA as the relevant regulatory authority.”

Traceability

The key focus of Red Tractor assurance scheme is traditionally on traceability and food safety.

While environmental objectives do play a factor, companies such as Arla are taking the lead in the dairy sector, with environmental targets driving improvement on farm.