Farm assurance... Certification bodies

[Jim G]

Hi everyone,

Has anybody got any good / bad experiences with any of the farm assurance certification bodies? I'm looking into getting farm assured so we can sell straight to slaughter, but not sure which company to use. They are all about £150 give or take £10.

Any replies much appreciated.

Jim G

 

[Davy_g]

I'm pretty sure you will spend a lot more than that to be certified.
See what your local farmers recommend and sort out all paperwork and tidy everything for the inspection. Then see what you need to rectify to see if it's worth it.

I wish farmers certified the meet plants....

 

[Jim G]

That's the cost not including VAT, and not including the cost to put right whatever doesn't meet the standards.

 

[Woolless]

I use SAI Global, the inspector who comes seems very fair.

 

[Aspiring Peasant]

We've recently become farm assured.. We used Kiwa PAI from Harrogate, the cost was £129 + VAT for beef and lamb. They sent an information pack together with templates of the record forms before hand which were clear to follow. The inspector was a working farmer who was doing the job because he had to sell his dairy cows as the firm he was selling milk to had gone bust and dropped him in for £40k. He was very helpful, all in all I was pleasantly surprised at the experience.

 

[bobk]

Hi everyone,

Has anybody got any good / bad experiences with any of the farm assurance certification bodies? I'm looking into getting farm assured so we can sell straight to slaughter, but not sure which company to use. They are all about £150 give or take £10.

Any replies much appreciated.

Jim G

They all use the same protocols.

 

[rusty]

A lot of the inspectors are self employed and may work for more than one company.

 

[cowboysupper]

£55 plus VAT approx I think for Northern Ireland Quality Assurance Scheme. Don't really find it too much of a burden in that it keeps the books right for cross compliance.

If you don't have it here cattle get hit with £150 penalty because non FQAS beef is apparently going into the 2nd tier market to compete with beef from here there and everywhere. The retailers won't buy it without it and unless you have a special arrangement with your butcher, the UK retailer is paying best in Europe whether we like it or not.

My last inspector was a farmer as well and was dead on. Have heard reports though of other farmer/inspectors who are quite the opposite.

 

[Jim G]

Thanks for the replies