On The Road
Cereals Event | NSA Sheep Event | Royal Welsh Show | Royal Highland Show | CTSI Conference
Red Tractor was excited to participate in the NSA Sheep Event this July.
The premier gathering for sheep farming professionals gave us a valuable platform to engage directly with our farmer members, industry experts, and other key stakeholders.
Red Tractor interim chair Alistair Mackintosh said, “By coming to the event and having open dialogue we hope to foster stronger relationships, transparency, and collaboration with the sector. I am confident this will help build a sense of trust between Red Tractor and the sheep farming community.”
He added, “The team were particularly eager to listen to the insights and feedback from members, with whom we have a shared purpose of ensuring the sector has a strong future. We are committed to staying attuned to the real-world challenges and opportunities they face.”
Crops Chair Kit Papworth met with hundreds of members at this year's event.
At the Cereals Event at Newham Farm, Hertfordshire in June we welcomed visitors from all over the country to the Red Tractor stand. Red Tractor was again included on the NRoSO knowledge trail with visitors taking a quiz to learn how our standards cover the use of PPPs to obtain a NRoSO point.
Our crops sector Chair Kit Papworth was on hand both days, speaking to many members about their concerns over the issue of imports given the anticipated smaller UK harvest.
Date for your Diary: Cereals 2025, 11-12 June, Roy Ward Farms, Leadenham, Lincs.
Red Tractor speaks with Scottish agriculture stakeholders at annual show.
Engaging with members, farming bodies and stakeholders in Scotland was the focus for Alistair Mackintosh, Red Tractor interim chair and Philippa Wiltshire, Red Tractor Head of Operations on their visit to the Highland Show in June.
The Highland show is one of the premier events that brings the agriculture industry together. They managed to meet with the NFU Scotland, Quality Meat Scotland, Scottish Quality Crops, several meat processors and lots of farmers. These conversations are extremely important as we navigate the challenges of delivering farm assurance across the devolved regions of the UK.
Members of the Red Tractor team were pleased to speak with members and organisations from across the Welsh farming sector at the 2024 Royal Welsh Show.
Tim Lock, Dairy Sector Board Chair, Philippa Wiltshire, Red Tractor Head of Operations and Jemma Holden, Dairy, Beef and Lamb and Post Farm Gate Technical Manager were pleased to meet with the NFU Cymru commodity chairs and staff. It was also a great opportunity to meet with representatives from FUW, retailers and the The Farm Assured Welsh Livestock Beef and Lamb Scheme (FAWL).
Red Tractor's Head of Operations speaks to the Chartered Trading Standards Institute
Philippa Wiltshire, Head of Operations joined a platform of speakers including Professor Chris Elliot (Institute for Global Food Security), Dawn Welham (Quality Assurance Director Aldi), David Pickering (Trading Standards Lead officer for Food) to speak to an audience of trading standards inspectors at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) conference in Leeds.
Philippa spoke about the work of Red Tractor and the earned recognition arrangements with the Food Standards Agency. Earned recognition is a key element of value provided to farmers from being Red Tractor certified.
Earned recognition at Red Tractor
The Red Tractor supports its members through an earned recognition system, which reduces the frequency of external inspections by fulfilling specific compliance standards monitored by independent certification bodies.
This arrangement, recognised by regulators like Food Standards Agency (FSA), is awarded to robust schemes accredited by the UK Accreditation Service (UKAS) to demonstrate legal compliance.
Read more here about earned recognition agreements.
