RT Inspector

traineefarmer

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Mid Norfolk
On reflection, I think in the short term having a neighbour do an inspection could be advantageous. As soon as they find a non-compliance, I would ask them how they are getting on sealing their leaking septic tank, cleaning up the spilt waste oil, recording the manure that was spread during a closed season or some other f*ckery that I've witnessed or heard about.
 

Bald n Grumpy

Member
Livestock Farmer
I just see the ‘non-compliance’ sheet filling up now.;)

Pleasantries and biting your tongue is usually the best way to handle these matters ime. If they are particularly officious, then asking their advice about something works a treat in smoothing the way I find. Think of it as a bit of Vaseline.🤐
I'm always polite to anyone who comes on farm, and as long as I'm treated the same I continue to be so and not make life difficult . As for "Vaseline " I don't bend over for anyone
 

DrWazzock

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
Until this year, our inspector always played the dame at panto in the town hall. You can’t really get cross with somebody you’ve seen dressed as Widow Twanky. You can’t really take them that seriously either. Sometimes he “had to find a non conformance” to make the stats look right. We went along with it. It’s all a bit of a joke really.
 

B'o'B

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Rutland
Until this year, our inspector always played the dame at panto in the town hall. You can’t really get cross with somebody you’ve seen dressed as Widow Twanky. You can’t really take them that seriously either. Sometimes he “had to find a non conformance” to make the stats look right. We went along with it. It’s all a bit of a joke really.
Surely whenever he asked to see anything you replied "its behind you!"
 

Vitu

Member
Location
Hampshire
Here we go again. So in their latest bout of fu*kwittery the world's most incompetent organisation, the NSF, has just informed me that my new inspector is actually my neighbour.

Whether or not we get along as neighbours isn't really the point, but ineveitably there would be times when you might not want your nieghbour knowing every detail of your business and poking into every corner of the farm. There may be "history" over all sorts of things going back for years which could affect the impartiality of the audit. Surely they send an inspector from outside the area? They always used to.

Am I being unreasonable in expecting this?
Incompetent is an understatement. Renewed our assurance with NSF in October. Had the usual letter an assessor
Will be in contact to make an appointment. Never herd anything until this week, when we received a letter that if we
didn’t book an assessment by 27th December we will be suspended. Managed to find out who had been given the
Pleasure of doing our assessment. Contacted them only to be told I can’t do your assessment as I’m not qualified on
the new standards that came in in November. It beggars believe.
 
I had a Small farmer from the North of the county doing my last RPA inspection, Thoroughly nice chap and was more interested in talking about my old Zetor and suckler cows... :)
Similar here. Last time he was more interested in my opinion, as a vet and farmer, on the new requirements that might be coming in regarding tail docking while hanging over a gate checking the ewe Hoggs. I think he'd been getting it in the neck from some other folk!
 

DRC

Member
Nope, failed is a fair term. Plenty of farmers started off with nothing and have made a go of it. If they want to subsidise their inefficient practices with a second job, that's fine plenty do. Or maybe their hearts not truly in the farming to make a go of it, thats fine also, each to their own.
But neither scenario qualifies them in any way to walk onto a farm being run by someone who has it as a full time occupation and is using its profits to keep a house/family and expand a business solely on its own.
Those that can, do.
Those that can't, teach.
Those that can do neither................audit.
My inspector is the wife of a farmer with young children . Degree educated and a very nice lady.
I expect the job fits around the children and helping at home .
I wouldn’t call her failed at anything
 

yellowbelly

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
N.Lincs
Until this year, our inspector always played the dame at panto in the town hall. You can’t really get cross with somebody you’ve seen dressed as Widow Twanky. You can’t really take them that seriously either. Sometimes he “had to find a non conformance” to make the stats look right. We went along with it. It’s all a bit of a joke really.
"Oh no, it's not!"



Sorry, I just couldn't help myself
t1813.gif
 

kiwi pom

Member
Location
canterbury NZ
Here we go again. So in their latest bout of fu*kwittery the world's most incompetent organisation, the NSF, has just informed me that my new inspector is actually my neighbour.

Whether or not we get along as neighbours isn't really the point, but ineveitably there would be times when you might not want your nieghbour knowing every detail of your business and poking into every corner of the farm. There may be "history" over all sorts of things going back for years which could affect the impartiality of the audit. Surely they send an inspector from outside the area? They always used to.

Am I being unreasonable in expecting this?
If you don't want your neighbour doing the inspection, ring up and ask them to send someone else. Ring your neighbour and say the same thing. Not really a big drama.
 

B'o'B

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Rutland
Incompetent is an understatement. Renewed our assurance with NSF in October. Had the usual letter an assessor
Will be in contact to make an appointment. Never herd anything until this week, when we received a letter that if we
didn’t book an assessment by 27th December we will be suspended. Managed to find out who had been given the
Pleasure of doing our assessment. Contacted them only to be told I can’t do your assessment as I’m not qualified on
the new standards that came in in November. It beggars believe.
Suspending members for Red Tractors own failings is not a good business model.
They need some competition in the market place, which something that is being worked on for cereals right now.
 
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Estate fencing.

Member
Livestock Farmer
We used to have the old retired farm manager from the estate next do do our RT inspection, I almost used to enjoy it having a walk round and he would make little comments about what he thought was right and wrong, it was good for a lad in my early 20's. Then he gave up and we got landed with the most useless man on the planet (I used to work with him and would regularly find him crying in the parlour because the job was to to much!) as the RT inspection. He turned up once to do a RPA inspection (he did these as well) right in the middle of my April lambing, for another flock of 100 dry sheep that had 2 movement a year, I turned up on my quad with the dogs on the back and first thing he said was "You shouldn't used dogs with quads, that why no one had good dogs anymore, its wrecking the look of sheep farming", I quickly turned round and said "inspections are what are wrecking sheep farming, by wasting half a day here going through ear tags and movements that are 100% I'm loosing lambs on other farms". He tried so hard to fail me, he even said that it was no way right that in 5 year there where only 10 movements and 3 dead tickets and purposely dragged the job out. He turned up to do he RT inspection 9 month later and took good pleasure telling him that I'm going to give up being farm assured and to get off my properly.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
We used to have the old retired farm manager from the estate next do do our RT inspection, I almost used to enjoy it having a walk round and he would make little comments about what he thought was right and wrong, it was good for a lad in my early 20's. Then he gave up and we got landed with the most useless man on the planet (I used to work with him and would regularly find him crying in the parlour because the job was to to much!) as the RT inspection. He turned up once to do a RPA inspection (he did these as well) right in the middle of my April lambing, for another flock of 100 dry sheep that had 2 movement a year, I turned up on my quad with the dogs on the back and first thing he said was "You shouldn't used dogs with quads, that why no one had good dogs anymore, its wrecking the look of sheep farming", I quickly turned round and said "inspections are what are wrecking sheep farming, by wasting half a day here going through ear tags and movements that are 100% I'm loosing lambs on other farms". He tried so hard to fail me, he even said that it was no way right that in 5 year there where only 10 movements and 3 dead tickets and purposely dragged the job out. He turned up to do he RT inspection 9 month later and took good pleasure telling him that I'm going to give up being farm assured and to get off my properly.

I am generally very patient with inspectors as I always find it eases the pain. However, I think that RPA inspection might have been cut short if someone had turned up with that attitude when I was tired and short tempered in the middle of lambing.🤐
 

Bald n Grumpy

Member
Livestock Farmer
I am generally very patient with inspectors as I always find it eases the pain. However, I think that RPA inspection might have been cut short if someone had turned up with that attitude when I was tired and short tempered in the middle of lambing.🤐
Had a cross compliance check back in the summer, was very polite to the young lady who new as much about her job as I do nuclear science. Had to keep running in and out getting bits of paper for her to check which she then stamped and dated having checked the date on her phone every time. Also still waiting for the questions she hadn't brought with her about pigs to finish off the visit.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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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: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

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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