Meanwhile the Red Tractor AHDB circus continues unabated

[Flat 10]

Jim Moseley getting stuff round his neck on a TFA webinar right now

 

[Flat 10]

Apparently he’s not trying to force us into assurance

 

[Flat 10]

Apparently their portal is world leading

 

[Flat 10]

And the TFA position is clear- they have no faith in RT. So they, along with the BFU, are fighting for farmers and I would urge you to join even if you just rent 1acre.

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

Getting quite serious for RT and AHDB.

 

[MrNoo]

Getting quite serious for RT and AHDB.

And so it bloody well should, they’ve been shafting us for years

 

[Grass And Grain]

Apparently he’s not trying to force us into assurance

He's got wooden ears.

Vote of no confidence today from one of the sector boards. Farmers clearly tiddled off with more and more audit burden, yet he still bangs on about RT being a fab scheme, high standards, market access, etc.

If he said he understood what farmers are saying, and they'll look to reduce our compliance costs, then he just might stand a chance of keeping his job. As it is, his career is looking shaky.

 

[yellowbelly]

He's got wooden ears........
As it is, his career is looking shaky.

Norman Bagley from AIMS says the Red Tractor wants shoving out of the way and into an old shed..

...maybe Jim could get a job looking after it

 

[AIMS]

Well there's a strange viewpoint, RT seeing themselves as a victim of their own success. Would love to know what their measurement of success is given that the primary producer isn't benefitting and, if media reports are accurate, then the RT Chair and CEO survive in office not as a result of those who pay their salaries but due to their 'friends' in the supermarkets who, with the exception of Morrisons, are not members of RT.

Red Tractor 'a victim of its own success' says chief executive - Farmers Weekly

Red Tractor farm assurance is a “victim of its own success”, which is why some primary producers have little option but to be members, according to the

www.fwi.co.uk

 

[slackjawedyokel]

Well there's a strange viewpoint, RT seeing themselves as a victim of their own success. Would love to know what their measurement of success is given that the primary producer isn't benefitting and, if media reports are accurate, then the RT Chair and CEO survive in office not as a result of those who pay their salaries but due to their 'friends' in the supermarkets who, with the exception of Morrisons, are not members of RT.

Red Tractor 'a victim of its own success' says chief executive - Farmers Weekly

Red Tractor farm assurance is a “victim of its own success”, which is why some primary producers have little option but to be members, according to the

www.fwi.co.uk

But for how long?

It must be clear as day to the CEO and Chair that they are living on borrowed time.

They are perhaps between a rock and a hard place. From my ‘farmer’s’ point of view, they have been attempting to run RT and enact entirely new policies for the benefit of retailers rather than for the benefit of their farmer members. Perhaps retailers were wanting them to up the pace of implementation (to fit with their 2030 environmental pledges) with the upshot that it has all backfired, GFC has been binned and the future of FARM ASSURANCE (note- not RT!) is up for debate in a way it has never been before and which will hopefully lead to REAL premiums for premium FA products, where the markets want and will pay for those.
If all had gone well, the world would have been their cuttlefish. They would have been extremely well placed to take new jobs in the retail sector. As it stands, perhaps their CVs don’t currently look too impressive.
I’ve no idea what their employment contracts look like; perhaps they plan to sit tight until they are paid off, if it comes to that. Perhaps they will be past caring about the collateral reputational damage they are currently causing RT.

 

[SilliamWhale]

Well there's a strange viewpoint, RT seeing themselves as a victim of their own success. Would love to know what their measurement of success is given that the primary producer isn't benefitting and, if media reports are accurate, then the RT Chair and CEO survive in office not as a result of those who pay their salaries but due to their 'friends' in the supermarkets who, with the exception of Morrisons, are not members of RT.

Red Tractor 'a victim of its own success' says chief executive - Farmers Weekly

Red Tractor farm assurance is a “victim of its own success”, which is why some primary producers have little option but to be members, according to the

www.fwi.co.uk

Morrisons employee is on the RT board I think. Nice and cosy

 

[AIMS]

The Red Tractor website is terribly out of date. The page on sector board updates are all from July 2023

Updates from your sector board meetings - Red Tractor Assurance

redtractorassurance.org.uk

It also lists Tim Rycroft as a director.

 

[slackjawedyokel]

The Red Tractor website is terribly out of date. The page on sector board updates are all from July 2023

Updates from your sector board meetings - Red Tractor Assurance

redtractorassurance.org.uk

It also lists Tim Rycroft as a director.

… Whereas now Tim has moved on to better things; he’s just become director of an enthusiasts car club of which I’m a member.

 

[Rnold]

… Whereas now Tim has moved on to better things; he’s just become director of an enthusiasts car club of which I’m a member.

Doesn't Christine Tacon like vintage cars and takes part in the London to Brighton run. She not in the club too, is she.

 

[slackjawedyokel]

Doesn't Christine Tacon like vintage cars and takes part in the London to Brighton run. She not in the club too, is she.

Not so far as I’m aware, no.
Club members did have a little local difficulty a couple of years back though, when it was felt that the club board was not acting in the club’s best interests. We had one hellova job deposing the board, which was using all of its levers of power to try to stay put.

 

[carbonfibre farmer]

Not so far as I’m aware, no.
Club members did have a little local difficulty a couple of years back though, when it was felt that the club board was not acting in the club’s best interests. We had one hellova job deposing the board, which was using all of its levers of power to try to stay put.

That sounds familiar

 

[Coo man]

Ghrahm jack media spokesperson at Müller formerly wiseman’s has moved to ahdb.

 

[Jackov Altraids]

Commissioners to work with industry on Farm Assurance Review | Meat Management Magazine

meatmanagement.com

The next steps of an independent evaluation of the UK’s farm assurance schemes have been announced by the commissioners of the UK Farm Assurance Review.

The project was set up by the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), as well as the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU), NFU Scotland and NFU Cymru.

Lead project commissioner and former vice-chancellor of Harper Adams University, Dr David Llewellyn, will work with three other commissioners to aid in the “repurposing of UK farm assurance for a post-Brexit world”. Joining Llewellyn will be James Withers, former CEO of Scotland Food and Drink and Mark Suthern, chair of trustees for the Farming Community Network, while a fourth commissioner will be appointed in due course.

The project will include an assessment of best practice, consideration of how methods of assurance can provide value to primary producers in a fast-changing environment and provide an evaluation of the relationship between assurance and regulation.

Llewellyn said: “The programme of work, which will cover seven distinct stages, will be aimed at letting anyone, or any organisation, that wants to share their views on this important subject be able to do that, regardless of where they sit in the supply chain.

“The commissioners welcome this engagement. We expect to involve farmers and farmer organisations, policy makers, food processors, retailers and consumer groups, as well as relevant trade associations and representative bodies. The work will go on until the end of the year, and periodic updates on progress will be issued to the farming and food community.

“We will be seeking contributions to the Review, over the next few months, via an online survey, submissions of evidence from representative bodies and, where required, interviews and online focus group discussions. We want to ensure that we understand what works, and what doesn’t work, with assurance systems, so as to recommend ways in which the operating environment for the farming industry can be improved.

“Reporting to the commissioners and not directly to the sponsors of the review, in order to ensure its independence and transparency, Promar International, working with Supply Chain InSites (SCI), will be supporting the work of the Commissioners for the duration of the Review.”

 

[Bramble]

I would suggest that the following needs to be put at the top of the things the review considers:

Farm assured produce needs to achieve a measurable premium over non-assured/imported goods for both the farmer and the retailer, as they are the ones paying for the assurance scheme

Otherwise farm assurance, and all of the review work, is pointless

Red Tractor is ultimately a brand, it just has little/no value to farmers, retailers, or consumers

 

[gatepost]

More blood suckers? I presume these good folk will get paid handsomely for their input, there never will be a 'real' premium for assured produce, leopards don't change their spots, assurance will always be used as a lever/power over producers, why? it's human nature.