Red tractor statement on level playing field

Itā€™s utter bollo*ks,
I had proteins of 15% and they were trying to dock me money for them being too high last year.
You are however right when you say the whole market is bent, this has been shown to me this year being unassured, speaking to the lorry drivers and trader.


Yeah we had the same moaning about protein being too high.

Then you get this cr@p from UK Flour Mills saying German Wheat is better protein - it's pure utter Bull Sh@t.

What they'll do is blend it with lower protein Wheat and make more money.

The system is rigged.
 

Farma Parma

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Northumberlandia
Yeah we had the same moaning about protein being too high.

Then you get this cr@p from UK Flour Mills saying German Wheat is better protein - it's pure utter Bull Sh@t.

What they'll do is blend it with lower protein Wheat and make more money.

The system is rigged.
i bet germany gets no more sun than the best so called southern grain belt in the UK & its a fact they get colder winters.
biggest load of tosh them millers huh
 

texelburger

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Herefordshire
It can't just be be that finds the NFU and RT statements somewhat disingenuous. They must take us for idiots, they have both done a sharp about turn because of the hard work of @Grass And Grain and others.
Only last week they both organisations thought RT was the best and should apply universally to the whole of UK Ag and that there was no problems at all. Essentially the message was go away you irritating pleb.
Yet this week they seem to have been working tirelessly for weeks to secure a level playing field for UK farmers. I remind them that it was the NFU and the British Retail Consortium that founded the Red Tractor Company. And it is the Red Tractor that has consistently and systematically worked for 20 years to create the un-level playing field and the NFU seem to have (at best) turned a blind eye to their Frankinstine child monster as it grew more and more unreasonable.
Both these announcements are pathetic spin doctoring on a grand scale.
NFU if you wanted to salvage any integrity from this you should have said you had listened to members concerns on this not put this on your stand at CropTec:View attachment 999643
This is a complete lie. You have not been calling for more transparency on import standards and equivalence. You have been telling the people who have been calling for such things to shut up and crawl back into their hole. We are not as stupid as you seem to think we are. This sort of statement at this late stage make you look silly and pathetic. I imagine the ink was barely dry on that poster when it was put up given the conversation I had with one of your senior staff on Monday of this week.
We need industry bodies to represent us like never before right now, I want to support the NFU, I really do. This is our time of need. But your actions are making it extremely difficult for me to trust you anymore.
Their last minute change is so disingenuous it's embarrassing, they knew they were losing the argument so went into damage limitation mode.Unfortunately it hasn't worked as we're not as dense as they must think we are.In fact they must have some pretty stupid people on their payroll if they think us farmers were going to be taken in by the NFU and RT statements.The tide is turning folks ..........quite quickly.
 

Steevo

Member
Location
Gloucestershire
Their last minute change is so disingenuous it's embarrassing, they knew they were losing the argument so went into damage limitation mode.Unfortunately it hasn't worked as we're not as dense as they must think we are.In fact they must have some pretty stupid people on their payroll if they think us farmers were going to be taken in by the NFU and RT statements.The tide is turning folks ..........quite quickly.

All they are interested in is trying to spin the story and get ahead of the narrative. Get farmers who donā€™t know much about it, or may have heard a snippet in passing back on side thinking these nice men in suits are working hard on their behalfā€¦..when in fact the opposite is true.
 

Humble Village Farmer

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Essex
All they are interested in is trying to spin the story and get ahead of the narrative. Get farmers who donā€™t know much about it, or may have heard a snippet in passing back on side thinking these nice men in suits are working hard on their behalfā€¦..when in fact the opposite is true.
You have to admire their front.
 

Grass And Grain

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Yorks
What is happening is that they are valuing their relationship with what they see as their peers at a corporate level rather than the people who supply them with the product which allow them to function.

Its arrogance. Classic boardroom shenanigans.

We need to keep the pressure up. Possibly promoting a day of mass non cooperation to gently nudge them into remembering who supplies them and why anyone in their right minds don't like such double standards and dodgy behind the scenes deals
"National non-compliance day". I like that.

Specifically relating to the articles published - are either of these organisations going to respond well to a Freedom of Information request concerning correspondance and meetings relating to the articles ?
Afraifld FOI requests only work for public bodies.

Itā€™s utter bollo*ks,
I had proteins of 15% and they were trying to dock me money for them being too high last year.
You are however right when you say the whole market is bent, this has been shown to me this year being unassured, speaking to the lorry drivers and trader.

I've spoken to 5 different people over past day or two about the fact there's 47,000 cereal farmers, but only 20+,000 assured oned.

Each of the 5 asked "where does all the grain go from the 27,000 if it's not assured?"

Mainly to feed animals or humans. No one has died, and it's amazing how good the yields are at some assured farms.
 

Jackov Altraids

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Devon
I do believe Red Tractor was started in good faith with the intention of supporting British Farming.
The trouble is, the NFU took their eye of the ball and Red Tractor offered the rest of the supply chain significant sweeteners in order to save their business.
This also shifted the power from the producers for whose benefit RT was created, to the buyers.
The wholesale abuse of power by buyers and other vested interests was clear and obvious in all the new proposals suggested for this year.
Paying RT for the ability to sell your produce is galling, but pales into insignificance when you consider how buyers have used it to control the industry while deflating prices.
 

Steevo

Member
Location
Gloucestershire
I do believe Red Tractor was started in good faith with the intention of supporting British Farming.
The trouble is, the NFU took their eye of the ball and Red Tractor offered the rest of the supply chain significant sweeteners in order to save their business.
This also shifted the power from the producers for whose benefit RT was created, to the buyers.
The wholesale abuse of power by buyers and other vested interests was clear and obvious in all the new proposals suggested for this year.
Paying RT for the ability to sell your produce is galling, but pales into insignificance when you consider how buyers have used it to control the industry while deflating prices.

It has played into their hands and saved them the cost of creating the schemes the NFU feared the retailers would create for themselvesā€¦.by doing the job for them!
 

Jackov Altraids

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Devon
It has played into their hands and saved them the cost of creating the schemes the NFU feared the retailers would create for themselvesā€¦.by doing the job for them!

It worked for a while but then created 'standards inflation'.
Everyone wants the highest standards so keep inventing more requirements just for the sake of it. There is no end to this when you don't pay for it and it doesn't affect supply when effectively compulsory.
 

Barleymow

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Ipswich
Millers "Imported Wheat Assurance".


"Wheat imported by UK millers is generally more expensive than UK supplies, because of its protein characteristics and high protein content. At end October 2021 AHDB was quoting a delivered price for UK bread wheat in Northamptonshire of Ā£225 per tonne; in the same week, German E wheat ā€“ the type mainly imported by millers ā€“ was quoted at Ā£265 per tonne, US spring wheat about Ā£300 and Canadian wheat was around Ā£350 per tonne. Not surprisingly, therefore, millers prefer to maximise use of home-grown wheat provided it is of the right technical standard and comes with the necessary level of assurance."


Now I know we've grown Wheat WAY above 13% Protein, I think @Clive also touched on this in a post I seem to remember talked about growing high protein Wheat.

UK farmers can and DO grow high protein wheat.

The question is - who is restricting the market so that UK farmers are not getting Ā£265 to Ā£350 a tonne ?

The UK markets is disfunctional and broken, some might say corrupt.
14.78 protein in my crusoe this year ,had test done this week
 

stroller

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Somerset UK
A good idea about writing to MPs.
Can we have a standard letter to send to them?

Along the lines of

"Dear Mr Smith MP

There is a dictatorship regarding Assured Grain in Britain. It is controlled by Red Tractor.

eg
The price could be Ā£235/tonne for wheat in Britain. If you are non-assured (not Red Tractor) it may only be Ā£210/tonne.
Red Tractor does not gain its farmer members any premium, but it does increase their cost of production along with stress - which is not good for a farmer's mental health.

AIC say UK mills must buy Red Tractor wheat to sell assured animal feed.
But they can import grain and add it to other feeds and then sell it as an assured feed.
The imported grain (wheat) doesn't have to jump through all of the red tape hoops that the UK grown wheat has to jump through (at great expense) but can be added to make an "Assured Feed"

This discriminates against UK farmers who are not Red Tractor Farm Assured.

Please support the cause of your local farmers against the bureacracy and expense of Red Tractor

Yours sincerely
Mr Farmer

(Please edit as necessary)
Already written to mine, just got a waffle reply about how assurance was necessary for consumer safety
 

Worsall

Member
Arable Farmer
"National non-compliance day". I like that.


Afraifld FOI requests only work for public bodies.



I've spoken to 5 different people over past day or two about the fact there's 47,000 cereal farmers, but only 20+,000 assured oned.

Each of the 5 asked "where does all the grain go from the 27,000 if it's not assured?"

Mainly to feed animals or humans. No one has died, and it's amazing how good the yields are at some assured farms.
"National non-compliance day". I like that.

Or National, "Last minute forklift broken down day"
We have a massive opportunity at the moment with all mills struggling for product.
BBC always keen to report a possible problem to start panic buying.
Be the best way to get some proper National media reporting on this manipulation of our market.
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: ā€œRed Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in Aprilā€œ

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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