Question for Red Tractor on their Facebook post

[tullah]

I've a feeling their own made up rules let them use 5% of non-assured ingredients, and still use the RT logo

So Weetabix can buy up 5% of their requirement as UK Quality Grain, but not tickboxed, on the cheap as admixture. And use the silly tickboxed RT logo.
Whats all that about?

 

[tullah]

That's why I don't use a central store. I'd rather my grain not be contaminated by someone else's, likewise why should someone else suffer my carp mixed with theirs.

Appalling that Uk Quality Grain is getting contaminated with tickboxed rubbish.

 

[Will Blackburn]

Gotcha. But when they load out normally from a coop the farmer doesn’t have to go and put his own red tractor stickers on it does he? So although he still owns the grain on paper, the coop (are they also red tractor assured?) physically own the grain.
If the same grain had gone direct to wheetabix, it wouldn’t be red tractors job to track it down and recall it. So I would think it’s the same for coop. If the farmer thinks there is a genuine risk to human health then he would have to buy the 3000 tonne

Comes out of the coop tassc assured, presumably they have protocols if one of their members forgot to record trailer disinfection.

 

[oil barron]

Comes out of the coop tassc assured, presumably they have protocols if one of their members forgot to record trailer disinfection.

Does a COOP have insurance for if they find out that some grain in storage is not fit for end use? Or does the liability fall back on the farmer to buy out the pile?

I know with the central potato stores here, the store accepts liability to deliver on fresh potatoes when they accept them into store. So if the store goes rotten it’s on the store coop to buy more spuds on the open market to fill the order.

 

[tullah]

No system is going to be perfect, although the way RT works with central stores does seem particularly hopeless.

It is a tangent, but one which does ask questions as to why RT has been hailed as essential by mills, retailers, NFU etc when clearly it's nolt only poor at assuring anything, but also knowingly sweeping things under the carpet.

Still, it was a bit of fun really, asking a question like that.

Anyway, more serious work going on this week. Trying to make some positive steps to fix the problem (instead of teasing RT on Facebook)

I'm still waiting for the non farming union and RT to be teased on prime time tv.

 

[vantage]

I would assume it would be treated similar to antibiotic in milk that has been loaded and mixed at the plant. You’ll need insurance and there will be a protocol in your contract.

I’m confused as to how the farmer’s grain is allowed to be mixed with the store’s RT grain. Being a dairy farmer , all milk is tested pre tipping at the dairy so cannot contaminate a silo, surely the grain store ensures any grain added to a RT bin is the same standard.
I’m in no way supporting or denigrating RT, merely asking a question.

 

[oil barron]

I’m confused as to how the farmer’s grain is allowed to be mixed with the store’s RT grain. Being a dairy farmer , all milk is tested pre tipping at the dairy so cannot contaminate a silo, surely the grain store ensures any grain added to a RT bin is the same standard.
I’m in no way supporting or denigrating RT, merely asking a question.

It is tested for what’s important and they would sniff it for diesel as well. The point trying to be made here is you could get chucked out of red tractor for showing on your records you used a banned chemical, and if that happens any grain with a banned chemical on it should be recalled.

but if you follow that logic through, then we should be destroying all whisky in maturation.

 

[ollie989898]

It is tested for what’s important and they would sniff it for diesel as well. The point trying to be made here is you could get chucked out of red tractor for showing on your records you used a banned chemical, and if that happens any grain with a banned chemical on it should be recalled.

but if you follow that logic through, then we should be destroying all whisky in maturation.

But the point is you can't even buy banned chemical- no one will sell it to you and even fewer people will recommend it or prescribe it. So the idea that grain is magically going to become 'contaminated' (near ridiculous anyway considering literally zilch chemical would ever end up in the grain from a crop to which a chemical was applied) is farcical.

I find it amusing that RT seem to want to know the dates you washed your telehandler bucket, when you serviced your combine etc etc which is a complete joke as the consumer has no understanding of the trademark and cares even less. There is simply no need. Why the heck the NFU even invented the scheme is a mystery to me.

 

[ollie989898]

Appalling that Uk Quality Grain is getting contaminated with tickboxed rubbish.

It's not rubbish- it's UK grain grown in UK fields. The fact a farm is RT compliant or not has no bearing on their grain store hygiene or the quality of the grain or how well their crops grew. We all know that grain quality is down to a lot more than just how it was handled or dried or stored but the morons can't legislate or regulate for that.

The biggest issue assurance has is that it hits smaller farmers the hardest as they have far less time than the bigger guys to be filling out endless forms and boxes for what could be modest volumes of grain. Some farms don't even have long term stores- only temporary ones because they send their grain to central stores instead, where the stuff is looked after by a team of guys in a purpose build facility. It's all a big head scratcher in all honesty.

 

[oil barron]

But the point is you can't even buy banned chemical- no one will sell it to you and even fewer people will recommend it or prescribe it. So the idea that grain is magically going to become 'contaminated' (near ridiculous anyway considering literally zilch chemical would ever end up in the grain from a crop to which a chemical was applied) is farcical.

I find it amusing that RT seem to want to know the dates you washed your telehandler bucket, when you serviced your combine etc etc which is a complete joke as the consumer has no understanding of the trademark and cares even less. There is simply no need. Why the heck the NFU even invented the scheme is a mystery to me.

I don’t disagree with anything you say there. Not sure why folks in this thread are arguing for RT to have the right of declaration of contamination downstream of the farm and be responsible for doing the recalls.

 

[graham mc]

its all rubbish no one is going to write off a 10,000t store of wheat just because someone forgot to record which day they washed a trailer. It just shows they act like bullys but have no authority.

we all know they would use it as is and magically the farmer would be reinstated after finding the bit of paper down the back of the tractor seat.

The interesting bit would be if a farmer got kicked out and his grain was in central-store then he went full on social media to tell everyone he had bad grain in a 10.000t store that wouldnt happen as you would get a life ban and be unable to trade.

like i said they are bullys with no legal powers behind them, they have just been left to get to big for their boots.


the best question to ask is what premium do farmers get for being in this and producing wheat that is legally acceptable

 

[MrNoo]

its all rubbish no one is going to write off a 10,000t store of wheat just because someone forgot to record which day they washed a trailer. It just shows they act like bullys but have no authority.

we all know they would use it as is and magically the farmer would be reinstated after finding the bit of paper down the back of the tractor seat.

The interesting bit would be if a farmer got kicked out and his grain was in central-store then he went full on social media to tell everyone he had bad grain in a 10.000t store that wouldnt happen as you would get a life ban and be unable to trade.

like i said they are bullys with no legal powers behind them, they have just been left to get to big for their boots.


the best question to ask is what premium do farmers get for being in this and producing wheat that is legally acceptable

No, the real question you should be asking is "How much un assured is passed off as assured" be it by traders, mills, or heaven forbid farmers. Milling, malting, it happens

 

[warksfarmer]

Red Tractor have zero traceability in any of the food their stupid stamp is on. There’s no such thing as full traceability when imports are mixed in with U.K. produced stuff.

The only full traceability you can have is a farm producing food to sell through their own farm shop and there’s not a Red Tractor logo in sight in those places as they wouldn’t entertain the fraudulent scheme.