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Red Tractor will be dead in 5 years....

Red Tractor will be dead in 5 years....
With more work for less reward, I can't see how Red Tractor can survive....

Disclaimer: that's just my prediction (don't take it as fact) but I hope it comes true!

Why?

Well, because of this. Red Tractor have just released their Green Farm Commitment that will:

"Enables farmers to make commitments and track their own progress across five key areas for environmentally focused farming":
  • Carbon foot printing;
  • Soil management;
  • Nutrient management;
  • Waste management; and
  • Biodiversity

That all sounds fair and well.....but it's not. In fact, IT'S TERRIBLE, for the following reasons:

  • Farmers are being asked to foot the bill
  • This currently 'voluntary initiative' will no doubt become compulsory
  • It will allow for supermarket green washing whilst providing no benefit to the farmer
  • The supermarkets will have access to all YOUR DATA which they can sell or use against you

General Feelings

It should come as no surprise the general sentiment towards Red Tractor from farmers is poor.

What started out as a great endeavour to demonstrate British farming's quality standards and justify a premium price has descended into increasing paperwork and cost with no real benefit to the farmer.

As always, British supermarkets want quality but don't want to pay for it.

The Greener Farm Commitment is no different.

The numbers say it all - taken from this recent Farmers Guardian article

Leverage

Amidst a backdrop of reducing BPS payments, I truly believe natural capital and the green credentials of agriculture CAN BE the lifeline the industry needs.

It's leverage that, we as an industry, can use to demand fairer treatment in the supply chain and fairing pricing.

BUT ONLY IF WE USE IT CORRECTLY!!

This latest move by Red Tractor feels as though we are selling our golden ticket down the river straight into the hands of the enemy.

Rather than provide leverage, it feels as if it's just another shitty stick for the supermarkets to beat the industry with.

So what now?

For as a long as this remains a 'voluntary' standard then my advice would be not to enter into it.

Not only do you risk more paperwork and more cost but you'll also be supplying the supermarkets with a huge amount of YOUR data for nothing.

I appreciate for some of the dairy farmers out there this may not be feasible. In which case do as little as you can to tick the box.

Hopefully those within the NFU or Red Tractor will ACTUALLY LISTEN to farmers and pull the plug on this nonsense before it's too late.

If not then we might just see a revolt from farmers leading to the death of Red Tractor.

Let's hope so.

Until next week......

Published by:

Sandy Kirkpatrick