The Red Tractor ACCS referendum

[Wooly]

I think they need to get their head out of the sand ..................... or perhaps that should be arse, not sand !!

I have at least persauded 3 RT members not to re-sign up this week. If we all did the same, then the parasites won't have much to live off !!

 

[Farmer1001]

oh its working alright ! I have my moles within both the NFU and RT who keep me up to date !!!

i’ve been told to make sure my life insurance is up to date ! (in jest of course !)

ive been very busy with some conference speaking etc this week so have my reply to Jim Moseley’s email to send yet

I’ve a bit more time now to put into this, i’m
just catching up on the various threads running

i honestly think if we ALL keep up the presure to be listened to we may actually force some changes this time

So what is it you are seeking to achieve @Clive because it seems RT means many things to many people, some want a premium and less red tape, some want a premium and happy for more red tape, some want a premium and no red tape, some dont know what they want but want it now? So what is it you will accept from RT on behalf of all the TFF members you are "canvassing" that will make you drop your anti RT stance and move to the dark side and away from your proposal to set up a rival FA standard.

 

[Chris F]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ You all see the email address above ?

Why not copy and paste Chris's email and send it them as well ? Can they really ignore you ALL ?

They seem to like sending members emails this week !

Statement from Red Tractor

Due to the number of threads on TFF at the moment, we have requested a statement from Red Tractor to see if they will be taking into account what indiviudal farmers are saying and the overwhelming numbers on the two polls. The consultation is open to all our members and stakeholders. Farmers...

thefarmingforum.co.uk

 

[tullah]

So what is it you are seeking to achieve @Clive because it seems RT means many things to many people, some want a premium and less red tape, some want a premium and happy for more red tape, some want a premium and no red tape, some dont know what they want but want it now? So what is it you will accept from RT on behalf of all the TFF members you are "canvassing" that will make you drop your anti RT stance and move to the dark side and away from your proposal to set up a rival FA standard.

I think the majority here just want out of RT. Many have left or are on the point of leaving for all the reasons already covered.
With momentum building here it won't be long now before RT and all its hangers ons are just hasbeens.
We are nearly there.

 

[Agrivator]

I think it's fair to say that the on-farm Assessors are similarly cheesed-off with the incessant increase in paperwork, additional regulations, and paper waste that emanates from the control freaks at the top.

 

[Farmer1001]

I think the majority here just want out of RT. Many have left or are on the point of leaving for all the reasons already covered.
With momentum building here it won't be long now before RT and all its hangers ons are just hasbeens.
We are nearly there.

Have you left?

 

[tepapa]

I can see the proposed changes going quiet this year to appease the rioting farmers and to keep them in RT and then the additional proposed standards are added quietly over the next 3-4 years so in a few years RT will get what they want with ever more rules and farmers just accept it as it happens quietly with a few extra rules each year.

 

[Drillman]

I can see the proposed changes going quiet this year to appease the rioting farmers and to keep them in RT and then the additional proposed standards are added quietly over the next 3-4 years so in a few years RT will get what they want with ever more rules and farmers just accept it as it happens quietly with a few extra rules each year.

Yep sneak it in by the back door.
small print of this supposed consultation needs looking at closely.

 

[tullah]

Have you left?

Expecting a call from them any day. But that will not be a problem.

 

[Grass And Grain]

I emailed them today with my thoughts.

Please everyone else email them (over and above the consultation survey).

I emailed [email protected]

Just say what you think. We need enough of us to keep the pressure on. We will do this.

Just keep making a nuisance of ourselves until it sinks in.

 

[Chris F]

I can see the proposed changes going quiet this year to appease the rioting farmers and to keep them in RT and then the additional proposed standards are added quietly over the next 3-4 years so in a few years RT will get what they want with ever more rules and farmers just accept it as it happens quietly with a few extra rules each year.

I would agree, no comments from anyone on the board. They think this will all blow over and they will get back to the job as normal. Even the statement given didn’t dare to put a name to it.

Zero backbone, but a good strategy. However they have judged things wrong based on the sentiment we are seeing. It has been brewing for years and they have ignored it.

 

[Agrivator]

How do you start a Ground-swell?

A sudden gathering of force, as of public opinion: a groundswell of antiwar sentiment.

 

[Agrivator]

@Clive, this thread should flagged up on other threads to get as wide an audience and votes as possible.

 

[Grass And Grain]

How do we get the email addresses of the board members so we can contact them. Here's the list of them...

Who We Are: The Red Tractor Team - Red Tractor Assurance

Red Tractor is a not-for-profit company created by farmers and industry leaders in 2000.

assurance.redtractor.org.uk

I suggest we lobby Dhan Bhandari of AHDB, because we pay their wages, so they should listen to us.

Also all the farmers, Kit Papworth (NFU), Olly Harrison, James Cox, Brett Askew, Guy Smith. @Guy Smith do you know if the board members contactable please, and where we find their details?

I'd like to see these board members listening and working for the farmer members. After all, the farmer members do fund the whole organisation.

The board members run RT. They need to be able to justify having pages of rules for RT farmers, whilst concomitantly with AIC/UFAS allowing non-assured imported grains to be used by the same mills. It's a scenario you just couldn't make up.
I'd say heads need to roll. How can the board members allow this and expect to stay in their jobs.

Edit. Do the products on the shelf with the union flag RT logo possibly contain non-UK combinables? Or are those products only allowed british ingredients?

 

[Grass And Grain]

From https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/busine...h-flag-on-food-labelling-criticised-by-842138

Summarised below...

A leading East Anglian farmer has criticised the 'diabolical' use of British flags on food produced in other countries, following the publication of governmental report on misleading labelling.

Andrew Blenkiron, estate director for the 11,000-acre Euston Estate on the Norfolk-Suffolk border is vice chairman of the Red Tractor Assured Food Standards Board.

I think it is diabolical,' he said. 'It is incredibly disappointing that the consumer is being misled by believing that a union flag means it was produced here, when in reality that's not the case.

'It comes down to the individual retailer to make the consumer aware of what that union flag means. At the moment it does not guarantee anything.'

Mr Blenkiron said the best way for consumers to guarantee the British provenance of their food was to choose labels featuring the Red Tractor, an assurance scheme which is rigorously audited throughout the supply chain.

 

[DrWazzock]

I might be wrong but I don’t think the RT mark does guarantee that the actual product is of British origin (whatever that means). It doesn’t say anything about origin in the combinables standards.
The only reason the logo has half a Union Jack on it is because the audited production premises are located in the U.K., maybe?
I thought RT was a safety assurance scheme not a country of origin mark? Our inputs certainly aren’t British, from soya to fertiliser. To be able to guarantee a product is British is a can of worms and very subjective.
The way I read it, RT is a safety and now increasingly an ethical standard perhaps with sub groupings applicabe to premises in specified geographical areas which are denoted by the flag part of the logo.
I don’t have a problem with that, but I’d be cautious about asserting that the RT logo with half a Union Jack on it means that the produce is British. What if I’m growing carrots in Spain to audited RT standards and packing them in Spalding. Personally I think they would qualify for the British RT mark. But they aren’t truly “british”.
More clarity needed.

 

[milkloss]

I might be wrong but I don’t think the RT mark does guarantee that the actual product is of British origin (whatever that means). It doesn’t say anything about origin in the combinables standards.
The only reason the logo has half a Union Jack on it is because the audited production premises are located in the U.K., maybe?
I thought RT was a safety assurance scheme not a country of origin mark? Our inputs certainly aren’t British, from soya to fertiliser. To be able to guarantee a product is British is a can of worms and very subjective.
The way I read it, RT is a safety and now increasingly an ethical standard perhaps with sub groupings applicabe to premises in specified geographical areas which are denoted by the flag part of the logo.
I don’t have a problem with that, but I’d be cautious about asserting that the RT logo with half a Union Jack on it means that the produce is British. What if I’m growing carrots in Spain to audited RT standards and packing them in Spalding. Personally I think they would qualify for the British RT mark. But they aren’t truly “british”.
More clarity needed.

If I remember it had something to do with competition rules, maybe the EU had a say in it, not sure. Half a flag was a compromise to be able to promote British produce (and other half flags that had their logos released but hard to find now). As you say: all it did was to better enable the con.

 

[Clive]

I might be wrong but I don’t think the RT mark does guarantee that the actual product is of British origin (whatever that means). It doesn’t say anything about origin in the combinables standards.
The only reason the logo has half a Union Jack on it is because the audited production premises are located in the U.K., maybe?
I thought RT was a safety assurance scheme not a country of origin mark? Our inputs certainly aren’t British, from soya to fertiliser. To be able to guarantee a product is British is a can of worms and very subjective.
The way I read it, RT is a safety and now increasingly an ethical standard perhaps with sub groupings applicabe to premises in specified geographical areas which are denoted by the flag part of the logo.
I don’t have a problem with that, but I’d be cautious about asserting that the RT logo with half a Union Jack on it means that the produce is British. What if I’m growing carrots in Spain to audited RT standards and packing them in Spalding. Personally I think they would qualify for the British RT mark. But they aren’t truly “british”.
More clarity needed.

this image may shock some

 

[Clive]

From https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/busine...h-flag-on-food-labelling-criticised-by-842138

Summarised below...

A leading East Anglian farmer has criticised the 'diabolical' use of British flags on food produced in other countries, following the publication of governmental report on misleading labelling.

Andrew Blenkiron, estate director for the 11,000-acre Euston Estate on the Norfolk-Suffolk border is vice chairman of the Red Tractor Assured Food Standards Board.

I think it is diabolical,' he said. 'It is incredibly disappointing that the consumer is being misled by believing that a union flag means it was produced here, when in reality that's not the case.

'It comes down to the individual retailer to make the consumer aware of what that union flag means. At the moment it does not guarantee anything.'

Mr Blenkiron said the best way for consumers to guarantee the British provenance of their food was to choose labels featuring the Red Tractor, an assurance scheme which is rigorously audited throughout the supply chain.

the image above makes him sonewhat of a hypocrite then I guess ......

 

[Clive]

From https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/busine...h-flag-on-food-labelling-criticised-by-842138

Summarised below...

A leading East Anglian farmer has criticised the 'diabolical' use of British flags on food produced in other countries, following the publication of governmental report on misleading labelling.

Andrew Blenkiron, estate director for the 11,000-acre Euston Estate on the Norfolk-Suffolk border is vice chairman of the Red Tractor Assured Food Standards Board.

I think it is diabolical,' he said. 'It is incredibly disappointing that the consumer is being misled by believing that a union flag means it was produced here, when in reality that's not the case.

'It comes down to the individual retailer to make the consumer aware of what that union flag means. At the moment it does not guarantee anything.'

Mr Blenkiron said the best way for consumers to guarantee the British provenance of their food was to choose labels featuring the Red Tractor, an assurance scheme which is rigorously audited throughout the supply chain.

by the way ....... i wonder if his farm was removed from the scheme following this clear none compliance?

the hypocrisy is eminence ! they really seem to believe theor own shite doesn’t smell i reckon !