Dairying & Red Tractor

[NoParticularPattern]

We need to be the best, the issue with RT is how in the hell do some places keep passing? Yet god forbid you don’t wash the tank well enough you need a whole tub of Vaseline.
Also how is something not an issue one visit then all of a sudden it is on the next

Yes we feel very similar. We know our stuff and we know we are up to standard, but they ALWAYS find something to make a big deal of. Last year it was a door that needed new tin (which had looked exactly like that for the last 14 years at the very least and had absolutely been seen by the same inspector at least 3 times with no issue). The year before that it was that the inspector didn’t think our liners had been changed despite our records and purchases saying differently but you know, they know best! Never big stuff to correct just a pain in the backside and almost like they feel obligated to find something, ANYTHING to comment on. Then you hear and see horror stories of farms that should never have passed an inspection in any way, shape or form and you sit there wondering how your workshop door was so important yet they missed all the failings on these other farms.

 

[Ballygreenan]

And heaven forbid there should be a cobweb on the roof of the milking parlour! We all know how hazardous cobwebs are when they get into the milk!

 

[Jdunn55]

Yes we feel very similar. We know our stuff and we know we are up to standard, but they ALWAYS find something to make a big deal of. Last year it was a door that needed new tin (which had looked exactly like that for the last 14 years at the very least and had absolutely been seen by the same inspector at least 3 times with no issue). The year before that it was that the inspector didn’t think our liners had been changed despite our records and purchases saying differently but you know, they know best! Never big stuff to correct just a pain in the backside and almost like they feel obligated to find something, ANYTHING to comment on. Then you hear and see horror stories of farms that should never have passed an inspection in any way, shape or form and you sit there wondering how your workshop door was so important yet they missed all the failings on these other farms.

I wouldnt put it past them for money to exchange hands in order to silence anything coming to light on the farms that should have been left in the 18th century...
I have no proof of that btw, but it's the only way I can see how some places pass everytime.
Dad always tells the story about one inspector who would pass you every time if you talked to him about greyhound racing, dad was never interested in it and therefore knew nothing about it so he always picked him up on sh!t everytime. One time dad had blitzed the dairy with hypochlorite in the pressure washer and everything was sparking, said inspector couldnt find anything so ended up crawling on his back right underneath the bulk tank and managed to find a single fly spot to fail dad

 

[Sid]

It's the duplication, with a box ticking assessor who is not interested in the data you supply, that I resent. We are on an aligned contract with all the resultant hoops. However, the data collated by the milk buyer is used to identify areas for on farm improvements in health, welfare and efficiency.

Over last few day been doing mine via the portal, I have no idea how may times I have uploaded the herd health plan to cover questions.
Brokenneedle policy
CiA assessment
Ab usage
Lameness assessment
Calf morality

Its all in the same document yet the questions are set individually !

 

[Sid]

And heaven forbid there should be a cobweb on the roof of the milking parlour! We all know how hazardous cobwebs are when they get into the milk!

Tear that cobweb thats 10 foot away from the cluster down and use a synthetic fly spray that could get sucked into the vacuum line instead!

 

[Boysground]

Over last few day been doing mine via the portal, I have no idea how may times I have uploaded the herd health plan to cover questions.
Brokenneedle policy
CiA assessment
Ab usage
Lameness assessment
Calf morality

Its all in the same document yet the questions are set individually !

when I did mine it was 40 uploads and 50 photos. The repetitive questions requiring similar answers are ridiculous.

I have started going through the consultation it gets worse. 7 days to tell vet of ab failure, I’ll know in seconds after a fail and on the rare times it’s happened here usually before, my processor will know almost as quick as me. I will go through the reason why immediately. The only thing that will happen when I tell the vet is he will charge to tell me something I know the answer to. It’s a pathetic suggestion

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[frederick]

when I did mine it was 40 uploads and 50 photos. The repetitive questions requiring similar answers are ridiculous.

I have started going through the consultation it gets worse. 7 days to tell vet of ab failure, I’ll know in seconds after a fail and on the rare times it’s happened here usually before, my processor will know almost as quick as me. I will go through the reason why immediately. The only thing that will happen when I tell the vet is he will charge to tell me something I know the answer to. It’s a pathetic suggestion

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No I get the vet one. The vet is responsible for supplying antibiotics. They are therefore to a smaller extent responsible for the fail.
Not so much now there used to be farms regularly failing and the vet would have no idea.
It's not so much for the first accident it's more to highlight there attention if the accident keeps happening.

 

[Boysground]

No I get the vet one. The vet is responsible for supplying antibiotics. They are therefore to a smaller extent responsible for the fail.
Not so much now there used to be farms regularly failing and the vet would have no idea.
It's not so much for the first accident it's more to highlight there attention if the accident keeps happening.

Just shows different points of view, all the times I remember a ab fail here it’s because of operator error, not something the vet has any control over so his input would perhaps as you say to be to check if we should have treated or not, but another cost at the same time. With processors driving less ab use and greater awareness on farm I would like to think that the fail rate is dropping significantly

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[betweenthelines]

And heaven forbid there should be a cobweb on the roof of the milking parlour! We all know how hazardous cobwebs are when they get into the milk!

Mate of mine told the inspector the spiders were there to catch the flies!

Sounds good to me-the ideal environmentally friendly past control.

 

[NoParticularPattern]

Over last few day been doing mine via the portal, I have no idea how may times I have uploaded the herd health plan to cover questions.
Brokenneedle policy
CiA assessment
Ab usage
Lameness assessment
Calf morality

Its all in the same document yet the questions are set individually !

Yes this irritated me too. I can’t understand why they didn’t set it up so that you could upload a doc/image and then tick boxes for which questions it answered. We ended up uploading hundreds of documents and photos mostly because they were almost all uploaded at least twice in order to answer the different points requested. And I can almost guarantee that any inspector with half a brain would pull up a herd health plan, see that it satisfies all the points associated with it, mark you as compliant on every one and then not even consider looking at the 250 other uploads of the same document because they don’t flipping need to! It’s a very blunt instrument for the job and they don’t seem interested in the feedback because believe me I’ve given them some. All they needed was someone with half an idea about process design.

 

[Bald Rick]

The poll is fairly conclusive at 80 "Yes", 3 "No"

When I asked my buyer why we had to be in RT, I was told that it was because their buyers demanded it.
Really?

I think I will re-ask the question

 

[Sid]

The poll is fairly conclusive at 80 "Yes", 3 "No"

When I asked my buyer why we had to be in RT, I was told that it was because their buyers demanded it.
Really?

I think I will re-ask the question

I think its for an easy life in processing.

Couldn't mix non assured and assured milk in the line?

 

[puppet]

I am not Red Tractor but in other schemes. As producers we need to have proof of assurance standards. We all demand that of the products we buy to ensure consistent quality and safety. There is a question of who is driving up standards. It should be based on safety, quality and customer demand. It should not be each
I see 3 areas - firstly, assurance should be a method of checking that you are adhering to legislation, to avoid the attention of HSE, EA, etc
Secondly, to prove certain standards are met.
Thirdly, the extra stuff which the buyers (and presumably the public) demand. These are likely to involve welfare and environment and should add value by demonstrating that you are doing something above the minimum. Where Tesco or Arla are inspecting you with higher standards then RT should just be able to tick all those boxes at your inspection and move onto the gaps.
The main theme is always duplication and if that can be reduced then it would help a lot

 

[jondear]

Just had a call from FSA Dairy inspector wants to come next week .See milking routine check parlour dairy ext !Just had RT recently .Great more bureaucracy .I thought they stopped them .Once in 10years apparently .!

 

[Tonka]

Just had a call from FSA Dairy inspector wants to come next week .See milking routine check parlour dairy ext !Just had RT recently .Great more bureaucracy .I thought they stopped them .Once in 10years apparently .!

Who actually issues a licence for you to produce milk? Not RT

 

[betweenthelines]

I think its for an easy life in processing.

Couldn't mix non assured and assured milk in the line?

It all gets tested before the tanker can unload, so what's the problem?

Anyone ever challenge a Dairy's test results on the basis that their RT Assured so can do no wrong?

 

[buffalo_soldier]

The poll is fairly conclusive at 80 "Yes", 3 "No"

When I asked my buyer why we had to be in RT, I was told that it was because their buyers demanded it.
Really?

I think I will re-ask the question

I think the answers will be the same.

If you really want to depress yourself, ask how much extra the buyers pay for their demands.

 

[Bald Rick]

I think the answers will be the same.

If you really want to depress yourself, ask how much extra the buyers pay for their demands.

I know the answer will be same .... so I am going to look at all Pizza Hut, Papa Johns and Dominoes boxes for that little red logo.

Do we think it will be there?

 

[Headless chicken]

I know the answer will be same .... so I am going to look at all Pizza Hut, Papa Johns and Dominoes boxes for that little red logo.

Do we think it will be there?

the many times I’ve graced the local kebab Shop with my presence, asking if the meat was red tractor approved has never crossed my mind. Likewise somewhere like dominos

 

[buffalo_soldier]

That's where you will hear the word commingling.