Farm assured

[liammogs]

Personally, and i dont mean to affend anyone but what a complete and utter b@lloks!!

We are not FA, our lambs are always top of the market (£89 for 45kg) this week £10 above anything els in the market that day!! Cattle are usually the same, its all about keeping things that suit your system and presentation, keep the best you can quality will always outshine anything else!! If you can avoid beeing fa i would!! I know people selling direct fat/slaughter see the difference extra ppk but as for live sales/mart waste of time

 

[gone up the hill]

Have been with SAI global no problems good assessors very helpful. Have not renewed this year as sold out of cattle and no premium locally in Mart or direct to abattoir.

SAI global are the best for beef/lamb, the inspectors I have had have always been sensible and helpful thou I think it helps that when they call to book the visit you make it very clear in a very friendly way that you think the whole scheme is a complete BS and drop hints that if you think they get too picky you will question the point of being in the scheme and perhaps drop out.....

Oh and it helps when they turn up if you keep them yapping about anything and everything ( except FA ) and ideally about themselves and what they did before they became is FA inspectors for a good hour as soon as they jump out of the car...

Biggest issue they have pulled me up is for not putting in the meds book when I wormed the feral farm cats to which my reply is, oh i didn't know there is a market now for FA assured fat cats for the food chain, do you know how much they are worth kg deadweight and who is it that buys FA assured cats??... to which they just laugh.....

 

[Bury the Trash]

Personally, and i dont mean to affend anyone but what a complete and utter b@lloks!!

We are not FA, our lambs are always top of the market (£89 for 45kg) this week £10 above anything els in the market that day!! Cattle are usually the same, its all about keeping things that suit your system and presentation, keep the best you can quality will always outshine anything else!! If you can avoid beeing fa i would!! I know people selling direct fat/slaughter see the difference extra ppk but as for live sales/mart waste of time

Which livestock market is that ?

 

[Y Fan Wen]

How on earth do you worm a feral cat? I daren't even do our old live in moggie.

 

[liammogs]

Which livestock market is that ?

Llandovery with lambs, but sell in various places with cattle

 

[Tonka]

How on earth do you worm a feral cat? I daren't even do our old live in moggie.

There is no requirement in the FA Standards for cats to be wormed........only your dogs.
This changed at the last Red Tractor review in October 2014.

 

[marshfarmer]

is it I'm not in and i get a good price for my cattle

Fat or store?

 

[gone up the hill]

There is no requirement in the FA Standards for cats to be wormed........only your dogs.
This changed at the last Red Tractor review in October 2014.

My inspector said this but then added as I had done them I had to put it in the book...

Just like the requirement that you cant feed non assured barley isn't in the book but he still made it pretty clear that it was unacceptable if you did buy in non assured barley

 

[Jon.S]

We've been farm assured for years always had a good relationship with the inspectors.

To be fair to them, if something wasn't quite right with the paperwork or the way it was presented they would help you out and give you a few pointers on how to do it better over a brew. No point in treating them like the enemy if they are willing to help or give advice that may come in useful during a trading standards/cross compliance etc. inspection. End of the day we have to pay for it so may as well get as much out of it as possible.

This was until the last inspection. The individual we had the misfortune to encounter was the most arrogant, self important individual that we have ever had the misfortune to have on our yard. Absolutely desperate to find something wrong whatever it could be. This was after a 20 minute lecture on how they were such good farmers and how forward thinking they were.

After making a point of seeing our biosecurity plan (is this a requirement?) the individual didn't even wash their wellies before leaving! Non compliances on two things that with 30 seconds on the spreadsheet could have been sorted. Obviously had to justify their salary.

We complained as did 4 other neighbouring farmers that I know of who had had similar experiences. When we phoned the girl who answered sighed and said "oh dear you as well" and assured me that the individual had been spoken to about their attitude.

Best of it was, a mate of mine went onto the inspectors farm to fix a tractor shortly after. He refused to get out because the sh!t was over his boots and then got stuck trying to get out of a flat concrete yard.

We'll still stay farm assured because we need to and in all fairness most of the officials are there to help and are fair. Although when you get an idiot it does make you question is it worth it.

 

[roscoe erf]

Fat or store?

store

 

[marshfarmer]

I go dw with everything apart from cull stock bulls, there is not much choice otherwise here, think you can see the difference between the areas with strong live marts, and those that don't from this thread. If I was selling store I doubt I would bother, as I would probably sell the cows as feeders too. But as I fatten everything being fabbl gives me options.
My inspector is very fair, and I have to be crop assured anyway so it's a no brainer for me personally and at least I know I'm doing my best to market what I produce.
We all know it's a farce but principles can be expensive. Recently I sent some cull cows to a different place, they needed to be assured, and have less than 4 movements or something, next week they had a buyer in the local market paying more than I got, and most were unassured...

 

[S J H]

@Gatehouse Farm

I've just signed up with Sai. They seemed the cheapest and easiest to get an answer out of. I'm just waiting for my inspection.

 

[Gatehouse Farm]

@Gatehouse Farm

I've just signed up with Sai. They seemed the cheapest and easiest to get an answer out of. I'm just waiting for my inspection.

Do they tell you want they want to see and what you have to do before inspection?

 

[S J H]

Do they tell you want they want to see and what you have to do before inspection?

There's info in the pack of what they want to see, I haven't gone through it yet, I expect it will be a night before job

 

[Gatehouse Farm]

There's info in the pack of what they want to see, I haven't gone through it yet, I expect it will be a night before job

Thanks I'll give them a ring on Monday

 

[bobk]

Do they tell you want they want to see and what you have to do before inspection?

Passports , movement book medicine records are the critical ones

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Passports , movement book medicine records are the critical ones

yea you fill them all in the night before he comes

 

[Gatehouse Farm]

Passports , movement book medicine records are the critical ones

That's pretty easy then, they're pretty much up to date in fact I think they are. Would imagine it will be a lot more straight forward now that all the sheep have gone and we only have the cattle.

 

[bobk]

That's pretty easy then, they're pretty much up to date in fact I think they are. Would imagine it will be a lot more straight forward now that all the sheep have gone and we only have the cattle.

All medicine in locked facility , dirty needle container , quarantine facility , ramp angle of trailer, trailer test certificate .............

 

[Gatehouse Farm]

All medicine in locked facility , dirty needle container , quarantine facility , ramp angle of trailer, trailer test certificate .............

Trailer test certificate ? What for towing?