Red tractor spot inspection

[Happy at it]

Hi all, partner got home on firday, doing much better, they wanted to keep him for another 10 days but didn't have any ward space (ambulances queuing out the hospital) and needed the bed in ICU so he's home with strict instructions of bed rest

Confirmed leptospirosis on Tuesday evening, I luckily got them to test for it on Sunday so got that back quickly enough for them to change antibiotics. His kidney and liver function dropped to 14% and caused sepsis. His platelet level dropped from being above 100 down to 12 and every time he bled it didn't clot.

Really scary tbh, not something I ever wish to repeat, I didn't leave the hospital until 3am Wednesday morning when I came back to milk the cows and then went straight back.

Regarding red tractor

She's been, it went really badly.
I got promised by her that she only needed movement records and medicine records, so I got those out for the consultant

She turned up and wanted passports, waste disposal, antibiotic collation, herd health plan, water test etc etc etc

None of which my consultant had available (red tractor has them all in their emails though!!)

So ended up with non-conformances for all of them (About 8 I think).

Typically I had a down cow on the morning of the inspection and she went ape about that. Non-conformance, insisted on a vet out (despite my herd health plan saying to wait 24 hours before phoning the vet - what's the point in having one if they won't let you abide by it?). So I assume with red tractor you're never, ever, ever allowed a down cow

Non-conformance for not having enough sand in cubicles apparently (despite writing next to it all the cows looked really, really clean and no signs of hock abrasions/rubbing etc)

Managed to find 2 lame cows - not lame enough for her to write down which foot they're lame on though and I'll be f**ked if I can figure it out.

Goats need their hooves clipping apparently (I'm going to start putting their milk in the tank since they're now assured!)

The dairy door that she's been inspecting for the past 14+ years has apparently all of a sudden become non-vermin-proof!

Slurry pit is full - completely agree with this one and needs emptying

Dad, consultant and one of my friends said she insisted that the vet follow her around to do the inspection of the cows,
According to them she was putting words in his mouth and pressuring him to say things and he said he found it very awkward
Apparently all my cows are super skinny (my BCS sheets done by the vets would suggest otherwise (herd average of 3.25)) and none of the diets are correct (done by nutritionalist).

Genuinely feel she has a vendetta against me

Just for comparison
I've had 5 inspections since starting and 2 inspectors

Inspector a:
Inspection 1 - 20 non conformance
Inspection 4 - 10 non-conformances
Inspection 5 - 16 non-conformances

Inspector b:
Inspection 2 - 2 non-conformances
Inspection 3 - 1 non-conformance

Amazing the difference in the number of non-conformances between inspectors - almost a pattern!

Don't even know where to go now, feel completely defeated and lost in truth

So sorry to hear of the hassle your getting at this time, its just all so unnecessary. It's so maddening that you'll be distracted by all this at a time when you're under enough pressure.

It's ironic that the time and effort needed to pass thier impractical standards, eats into the time you have to actually care for the stock. Could your milk buyer give you any assistance or support in getting them to ease off?

 

[upnortheast]

Genuinely feel she has a vendetta against me

Just for comparison
I've had 5 inspections since starting and 2 inspectors

Inspector a:
Inspection 1 - 20 non conformance
Inspection 4 - 10 non-conformances
Inspection 5 - 16 non-conformances

Inspector b:
Inspection 2 - 2 non-conformances
Inspection 3 - 1 non-conformance

Amazing the difference in the number of non-conformances between inspectors - almost a pattern!

Don't even know where to go now, feel completely defeated and lost in truth

Those figures look like the basis for a complaint to RT over lack of consistency between their assessors.
Though I suspect you could not be bothered with more hassle.
Who trains them to do body scores ? Had a friend with a breed other than Holsteins. Assessor insisted the cows were too fat. Giving 9000 litres on TMR He would not accept that different breeds would have different ,"normal ," levels of fat cover.

What a pity we don't have a organisation representing us who would take up these matters with RT.

 

[thorpe]

Awful.

If it were me, she would now have a lifetime ban from the premises and a formal complaint would be made.

i think you should name and shame this auditor! i do wonder what she was in her previous life, no doubt a failure!

 

[milkloss]

Glad your partner is recovering.

this is the kind of issue the Nfu should be taking up. Farmer in trouble and is trying their best but have a vindictive RT inspection. Experienced Volunteer members could come and give their own inspection, report back to the Nfu who then reprimands (if required) RT and sorts them out.

I haven’t milked for 15years and been non Rt for six but
this is the sort of behaviour that would encourage me to protest and protect my own……. They ought to be careful.

 

[Shovel 79]

Hi, a few years ago I had a newly trained inspector who gave me enough non conformance’s to raise an unannounced inspection.
The main reason for my re audit was : as the inspector drove in the yard And I was putting a day old calf in a pen(he watched me do this) I walked to another building for a bucket of water . The inspector got out of the car and I said can we start with the calves . I placed the bucket of water for the calf he watched put in the pen . This as he said was a welfare issue as I should have put the water in the pen before the calf. ,24 hour automatic suspension.
This was a very traumatic situation as I had a tragic work base accident only afew weeks before and the inspector was aware of this.
Afew weeks later he rang and said “I’ll be with you in the morning” to which I replied “no you won’t “. I telephoned his bosses and asked for different inspector. I told them if they sent him I would video the audit and have a legal representative present.There response was “you need to have his permission to film him” my reply was I have signs saying surveillance in progress and cameras on the property, my farm ,my rules!” They said they would ring me back.
Ten minutes later they rang back and said they would send some one else.
The next inspector was fine . He was annoyed with the previous inspector as he was following him around doing unannounced visits .
At the time I asked NSF if there was an appeal process and I was told I would have to write an email and they would look at it. I asked if there was an independent that dealt with it?No!
I asked who trained him and what qualifications he had to question my vets judgement?(health plan was “nonsense according to the inspector.
I asked for his insurance details as inspectors are self employed I wished to make a claim for lost income and trauma. .
We are held to account and why should they not be!
Going forward you will be reinspected and from what I remember you have to pass with no non conformance’s . Any non conformance’s and you are banned for several months.
Make sure you demand another inspector,
Seek help from your local rural support.
I hope your partners recovery is fast and I wish you good luck!
Also the inspector I had was given the push afew weeks later.
He went another job and caused havoc there for awhile.
🫣

 

[Enry]

Some photos of my incorrectly fed and neglected cows I took yesterday

As you can see, they're all super skinny and on deaths door

This is the fresh group BTW, all putting on an average of 0.15kg/day in weight and after calving they start gaining weight at about 6-8 weeks.

You can only imagine how skinny all the dry cows are when they've had an extra 200-300 days being fed...

WTF is the stupid woman on about! Cows look really well.

 

[CornishTone]

Hi all, partner got home on firday, doing much better, they wanted to keep him for another 10 days but didn't have any ward space (ambulances queuing out the hospital) and needed the bed in ICU so he's home with strict instructions of bed rest

Confirmed leptospirosis on Tuesday evening, I luckily got them to test for it on Sunday so got that back quickly enough for them to change antibiotics. His kidney and liver function dropped to 14% and caused sepsis. His platelet level dropped from being above 100 down to 12 and every time he bled it didn't clot.

Really scary tbh, not something I ever wish to repeat, I didn't leave the hospital until 3am Wednesday morning when I came back to milk the cows and then went straight back.

Regarding red tractor

She's been, it went really badly.
I got promised by her that she only needed movement records and medicine records, so I got those out for the consultant

She turned up and wanted passports, waste disposal, antibiotic collation, herd health plan, water test etc etc etc

None of which my consultant had available (red tractor has them all in their emails though!!)

So ended up with non-conformances for all of them (About 8 I think).

Typically I had a down cow on the morning of the inspection and she went ape about that. Non-conformance, insisted on a vet out (despite my herd health plan saying to wait 24 hours before phoning the vet - what's the point in having one if they won't let you abide by it?). So I assume with red tractor you're never, ever, ever allowed a down cow

Non-conformance for not having enough sand in cubicles apparently (despite writing next to it all the cows looked really, really clean and no signs of hock abrasions/rubbing etc)

Managed to find 2 lame cows - not lame enough for her to write down which foot they're lame on though and I'll be f**ked if I can figure it out.

Goats need their hooves clipping apparently (I'm going to start putting their milk in the tank since they're now assured!)

The dairy door that she's been inspecting for the past 14+ years has apparently all of a sudden become non-vermin-proof!

Slurry pit is full - completely agree with this one and needs emptying

Dad, consultant and one of my friends said she insisted that the vet follow her around to do the inspection of the cows,
According to them she was putting words in his mouth and pressuring him to say things and he said he found it very awkward
Apparently all my cows are super skinny (my BCS sheets done by the vets would suggest otherwise (herd average of 3.25)) and none of the diets are correct (done by nutritionalist).

Genuinely feel she has a vendetta against me

Just for comparison
I've had 5 inspections since starting and 2 inspectors

Inspector a:
Inspection 1 - 20 non conformance
Inspection 4 - 10 non-conformances
Inspection 5 - 16 non-conformances

Inspector b:
Inspection 2 - 2 non-conformances
Inspection 3 - 1 non-conformance

Amazing the difference in the number of non-conformances between inspectors - almost a pattern!

Don't even know where to go now, feel completely defeated and lost in truth

Glad to hear your partner is on the mend.

Based on this alone, you need to lodge a formal complaint with RT, include your vet in the conversation and get NFU or similar involved. You've got all the evidence you need to show she requires "retraining" and that you should be reassessed by a competent assessor.

And absolutely name and shame the b1tch. She could turn up on any farm in the SW and do this.

 

[joep83]

Hi all, partner got home on firday, doing much better, they wanted to keep him for another 10 days but didn't have any ward space (ambulances queuing out the hospital) and needed the bed in ICU so he's home with strict instructions of bed rest

Confirmed leptospirosis on Tuesday evening, I luckily got them to test for it on Sunday so got that back quickly enough for them to change antibiotics. His kidney and liver function dropped to 14% and caused sepsis. His platelet level dropped from being above 100 down to 12 and every time he bled it didn't clot.

Really scary tbh, not something I ever wish to repeat, I didn't leave the hospital until 3am Wednesday morning when I came back to milk the cows and then went straight back.

Regarding red tractor

She's been, it went really badly.
I got promised by her that she only needed movement records and medicine records, so I got those out for the consultant

She turned up and wanted passports, waste disposal, antibiotic collation, herd health plan, water test etc etc etc

None of which my consultant had available (red tractor has them all in their emails though!!)

So ended up with non-conformances for all of them (About 8 I think).

Typically I had a down cow on the morning of the inspection and she went ape about that. Non-conformance, insisted on a vet out (despite my herd health plan saying to wait 24 hours before phoning the vet - what's the point in having one if they won't let you abide by it?). So I assume with red tractor you're never, ever, ever allowed a down cow

Non-conformance for not having enough sand in cubicles apparently (despite writing next to it all the cows looked really, really clean and no signs of hock abrasions/rubbing etc)

Managed to find 2 lame cows - not lame enough for her to write down which foot they're lame on though and I'll be f**ked if I can figure it out.

Goats need their hooves clipping apparently (I'm going to start putting their milk in the tank since they're now assured!)

The dairy door that she's been inspecting for the past 14+ years has apparently all of a sudden become non-vermin-proof!

Slurry pit is full - completely agree with this one and needs emptying

Dad, consultant and one of my friends said she insisted that the vet follow her around to do the inspection of the cows,
According to them she was putting words in his mouth and pressuring him to say things and he said he found it very awkward
Apparently all my cows are super skinny (my BCS sheets done by the vets would suggest otherwise (herd average of 3.25)) and none of the diets are correct (done by nutritionalist).

Genuinely feel she has a vendetta against me

Just for comparison
I've had 5 inspections since starting and 2 inspectors

Inspector a:
Inspection 1 - 20 non conformance
Inspection 4 - 10 non-conformances
Inspection 5 - 16 non-conformances

Inspector b:
Inspection 2 - 2 non-conformances
Inspection 3 - 1 non-conformance

Amazing the difference in the number of non-conformances between inspectors - almost a pattern!

Don't even know where to go now, feel completely defeated and lost in truth

Start by banning inspector A from ever coming back