Farm bodies move to kill off Red Tractor green module
© Red Tractor/Adobe Stock Red Tractor has been dealt a blow this week, as the NFU, NFU Cymru, NFU Scotland, Ulster Farmers’ Union and AHDB publicly called for its controversial green module to be scrapped.
In a joint statement, the groups said that, while they “continue to support the basic objectives that underpin Red Tractor”, they “strongly recommend” the Greener Farms Commitment (GFC) be discontinued.
The move follows comments made by Red Tractor chairwoman Christine Tacon to the BBC last month that it is a question of “when, not if” the GFC is introduced.
See also: Editor’s view: Time for Red Tractor to find reverse gear
New NFU president Tom Bradshaw has been under pressure to take a harder line on the issue than his predecessor, Minette Batters.
In an interview with Farmers Weekly, he said trust in Red Tractor had been falling away for many years.
“If there is any desire to continue with the GFC, rebuilding trust should be the essential focus of RT at this moment in time,” he added.
“Whether that is done through more board positions or through better consultation is open to debate.
“But how the farmer’s voice is fed in and heard in Red Tractor for the future is going to be one of the key questions.”
Over several years, Red Tractor has spent £295,000 developing the GFC, which was designed to be a voluntary bolt-on module, so farmers could demonstrate to retailers the steps they are taking to protect the environment.
But when news of the plans emerged last October via the British Retail Consortium (BRC), it sparked a massive farmer backlash, with many believing Red Tractor had overstepped its boundaries and failed to follow ordinary consultation procedures during the development process.
Collectively, the groups that have called for the module to be scrapped make up four of the six organisations which sit on Red Tractor’s “ownership body”, alongside Dairy UK and the BRC.
But the ownership body has a limited remit, which does not include day-to-day running of Red Tractor, and a decision about whether to push forward with the GFC is expected to be made by the Assured Food Standards (AFS) board at its next meeting at the end of March.
The BRC would not be drawn on whether it would establish a similar scheme for its retailer members in the event that the GFC is abandoned.
But Bryan Griffiths, vice-president of the National Sheep Association (NSA), suggested this would not necessarily be a bad thing.
“The NSA has discussed this, and we do feel that if each retailer does its own thing, far from being detrimental, it would add an element of competition,” he said.
A Red Tractor spokesperson said the AFS board is still considering the report on its governance, carried out by consultants Campbell Tickell, and that process will be completed before any decisions are taken on next steps.
“Balancing differing views across the supply chain is difficult at any time, but we hear loud and clear the level of frustration farmers feel in the current operating environment, and we take these views into account,” the spokesperson added.
Red Tractor warned of mass boycott if GFC is launched
Staffordshire farmer Clive Bailye has warned Red Tractor of a mass farmer withdrawal from its schemes, if it presses ahead with its Greener Farms Commitment (GFC).
Mr Bailye, who also runs The Farming Forum, has told Red Tractor chairwoman Christine Tacon that he will urge farmers on his forum to quit their farm assurance schemes if the GFC is introduced.
“If Red Tractor pushes ahead with the GFC on 1 April, there will be a mass co-ordination and data delete from the organisation,” he told Farmers Weekly.
“Such a move would be a high-stakes gamble that could kill Red Tractor completely.”
The British Farming Union (BFU) also wrote to Red Tractor chief executive Jim Moseley this week, telling him that if it launches the GFC, it will support farmers wishing to resign from its assurance schemes by pursuing “alternative market access, not excluding forming a new farmer-owned and governed assurance scheme”.
BFU chairman Steve Ridsdale said: “Farmers are sick and tired of being dictated to by supermarkets. This happens with pricing and supply chains, but now it’s happening with the GFC.
“Supermarkets have got to account for their Scope 3 emissions, but farmers are angry that through Red Tractor, they are trying to get their information for free through the GFC.”
A Red Tractor spokesperson told Farmers Weekly there is “no possibility” the GFC will launch on 1 April and plans for the add-on environmental module remain “on hold”.