The first UK-wide review of farm assurance has called for fundamental changes in how assurance operates, including a reduction and simplification of on-farm audits and a transformation in the use of technology.
There are also calls for greater collaboration between schemes and for the various schemes to improve their communications with members.
The review was established by the UK farming unions and AHDB last year in the wake of the anger of Red Tractor’s attempt to introduce a Greener Farms Commitment with sufficient consultation. Conducted independently by four Commissioners and is published today, it goes ways beyond Red Tractor, taking a UK-wide view of farm assurance in the whole.
It concludes that farm assurance is critical to the industry’s future and is delivering necessary assurances on quality to consumers, but must make some ‘fundamental changes to address growing frustration amongst farmers in how it is delivered’.
The nine-month review collected evidence from every link in the UK food supply chain and makes nine strategic recommendations:
- On-farm audits must be reduced, simplified and delivered more consistently;
- There must be a transformational step forward in embracing technology;
- Schemes need to reset and/or restate their structures to establish farmers as the driving voice in standards development;
- A new industry-led initiative must set out the future environmental ambitions for farm assurance;
- The inclusion of regulatory requirements within farm assurance should be conditional on government agreeing a form of ‘earned recognition’;
- There must be greater collaboration between farm assurance schemes across the UK;
- Schemes must better position the UK farming industry in world food markets and in competition with imported food;
- All schemes must review and improve their communication with farmers;
- The Red Tractor scheme must complete the implementation of recommendations in the Campbell Tickell report on its governance.
Under these nine strategic recommendations, a total of 56 operational recommendations have also been made, with clear lead bodies and timescales.
The Commissioners also call on governments across the UK to take a more structured and active approach to the interaction between assurance schemes and regulation, recognising the benefits this will bring to the farming industry and consumers, and the potential it will have to contribute to the better understanding of the impact of post-Brexit farming policies.
The reported noted that dissatisfaction expressed by farmers was not uniform across all sectors, nor across all nations, notably with assurance schemes in devolved areas working more effectively than UK-wide schemes. The report is therefore nuanced in its approach, recognising where existing arrangements work well, but being clear where changes are essential.
Significant change needed
Lead Commissioner, Dr David Llewellyn, said: “The is the first fundamental look at UK farm assurance since it was established in the 1990s. So much has changed over the last 30 years and we know that further change is on the horizon for the farming industry. Farm assurance must be a critical part of that future.
“However, for that to happen, significant changes are needed to win back farmer confidence where it has been lost, to build on what already works well and to secure a competitive edge for UK farming on the world stage.
“We have undertaken considerable research and taken account of a wealth of evidence from every part of the UK food and farming supply chain. We found competing interests and ambitions for the farm assurance system.
“Over time, that has added complexity and stress for farmers, many of whom now struggle to identify any real benefits to their business. Worse still, many feel they live in a permanent state of jeopardy with ‘make or break’ audits determining whether their businesses can operate or not. The reality is that too many farmers feel farm assurance is ‘done to them’ rather than ‘delivered with them’. It should be better than this.
“The farmers we consulted want to produce to the highest standards and to be supported by assurance schemes in that endeavour. However, they also want to be appropriately compensated for the considerable effort required by the current farm assurance system.
“We recognise that the system is essential to provide assurance of high production standards. However, it must deliver for all parts of the food chain, including contributing to a process of continuous farming improvement, something the approach of the current assurance system does not always provide.
“Many of our recommendations will be challenging. They are about changes to organisational cultures and expectations, as much as they are about processes. But we view them as integral to building a farm assurance system that is trusted, successful and underpins a profitable future for UK farming.”
Alongside Dr Llewellyn, the other three commissioners were Mark Suthern, Katrina Williams, and James Withers.
Reaction
The Red Tractor Board welcomed the review’s conclusions and recommendations.
“From its inception, Red Tractor was set up to include most key farm sectors and all main actors in the supply chain, from farms to fork.
{For this reason, it is extremely important that before responding, we – the Red Tractor Board – have time to fully digest and discuss the meaning of the review findings internally. Ideally, we would also include feedback from our Sector Boards that meet in February and include representatives from every stage of the food chain,” the board said.
“We will now take that time and respond in due course, and ask that Red Tractor is allowed the space to fully consider the outcome of this important independent review.”
NPA chief executive Lizzie Wilson said: “This has been a very thorough and worthwhile exercise and the commissioners have delivered a comprehensive set of recommendations.
“Some of these will be of great interest to our members, including the clear signal that farm audits must be reduced in number, simplified and delivered more consistently.
“We will take some time to digest the full report and look forward to working with the assurance schemes and other industry bodies to help deliver reforms that maintain the benefits of farm assurance, while making them fairer and more practical for producers.”
NFU President Tom Bradshaw and NFU Cymru President Aled Jones thanked the Commissioners for their dedication to the review and for delivering such a detailed report.
“This has been a critical piece of work and we hope it will provide a reset moment to enable Farm Assurance Schemes to better deliver for the whole UK food supply chain and our customers,” they said.
“The report outlines a set of clear recommendations which reflect the key concerns of our members, from simplifying on-farm audits to improving communication with farm businesses. Delivering on these recommendations is essential and the NFU will work with stakeholders to play its part in helping to take them forward.
“This is a thorough and complex report and we will take time to analyse it in the detail it requires.”
NFU Scotland’s deputy chief executive and director of policy, Jonnie Hall said: “We welcome this timely, comprehensive and independent, report which has unearthed the concerns and issues that we knew many of our members have about farm assurance in general.
“By setting out the importance of effective farm assurance, the report makes it clear that currently there are flaws and weaknesses that must be addressed. But, in setting out examples of good practice including those from schemes operating in Scotland, the report also provides a clear way forward for farm assurance and we are committed to playing our part in making that happen.
“Essentially, what we are looking at is a fundamental reset of farm assurance in the UK to ensure it works for the entire supply chain, not least the primary producer and the end consumer.”
AHDB also welcomed the review. “AHDB has always maintained that farm assurance is integral to the functioning of a transparent and safe food and feed supply chain. We understand the importance of a farm assurance system that commands the complete trust and confidence of our Levy Payers,” it said.
“This review marks a significant step forward for farm assurance, and we are optimistic about the opportunities it presents for meaningful change across the agricultural industry.”