Sack the board, if you sack me, says Red Tractor boss

Jim Moseley has rejected suggestions he should stand down from Red Tractor following the outcry over the Greener Farms Commitment, insisting if he is forced out, the entire board of 18 directors should also be sacked.

Speaking at the Northern Broiler Conference in Harrogate on Tuesday (13 February), Mr Moseley, who has been chief executive of the assurance scheme since 2017, said criticism of the Greener Farms Commitment (GFC) was based on “mistruths”.

During a Q&A session with delegates, he said the development of the GFC was a board-level decision and all board members bore equal responsibility.

See also: Editor’s View: Time for Red Tractor’s CEO Jim Moseley to resign?

“A lot of people have said, ‘Jim, you should resign, because you are the CEO of Red Tractor’. But perhaps what people don’t realise is I am one of 18 directors. The other 17 all agreed and said ‘Jim, that needs to be done, you carry it out.’

“So, I am taking a little bit of flak for the whole Red Tractor board. I’ll be honest with you, if the principle [of the GFC] is the wrong thing, then the board should be sacked and all the board directors should be sacked, because it was a board decision and I and the Red Tractor team are trying to deliver. Plus, the fact is I am a way off retirement age.”

Criticism rejected

Mr Moseley also rejected criticism of the concept of the bolt-on module, and said the rationale behind developing it was to reduce demands on farms from the inevitable environmental schemes that would be developed in the coming years were Red Tractor not to offer one.

In the months since the scheme was paused back in November, this was already happening, he said. “We have seen some bespoke programmes starting in different sectors. The Co-op is doing its own thing, Sainsbury’s is developing its own sustainable beef, and that is going to put increased demands on the supply chain.”

Mr Moseley argued that the whole rationale for the GFC “makes absolute sense”, but, “as a consequence of the furore that surrounded it, it has been put on hold”.

He added: “But if you look at a lot of the concerns that have been expressed by the agricultural community, they are based slightly on mistruths.

“They are like: ‘These are new standards!’ They are not. ‘They are giving away the data!’ We don’t want any data, we simply want to know you’ve done the plan. ‘The assessor is going to be coming down on me’. No, it’s going to be managed in-house.

“So, I think when we really look at the rationale for it, I personally believe the rationale holds water.”

Judgement call

However, Mr Moseley did concede that for some sectors, such as indoor poultry, “one size doesn’t necessarily fit all” and the criteria may have to be changed. “It may be different things, such as a focus on litter or feed or different things,” he said.

“The technical scrutiny is still to be done, but by the end of 2024 we can look at it and say is this still meeting the purpose? I hope we can come back to the facts and make a judgement call on whether this is a sensible thing to do or not.”

The NFU and AHDB are currently conducting independent reviews in relation to Red Tractor.