Member benefits, updates and reminders:
Simplifying your compliance

- How your membership is saving you time

- Understanding the residency rule

- Have you heard of Medicine Hub?

New legislative requirement? Avoided with your Red Tractor membership

In December 2023, new legislation mandated that all farmers selling livestock for slaughter must undergo an annual farm veterinary visit. This visit is crucial for ensuring livestock products remain eligible for export outside the UK by meeting EU export requirements. It helps confirm the absence of notifiable diseases and provides essential biosecurity guidance.

The Red Tractor Advantage

The great news - As a Red Tractor member, you’re already covered! Red Tractor is a qualifying scheme that automatically meets these requirements. There’s no extra paperwork, no additional visits - simply confirm your Red Tractor assurance to buyers.

Your commitment to high standards as a Red Tractor member is recognised by the Government, allowing you to focus on what you do best—farming efficiently and effectively.

This is just one of the many ways your membership works for you.

Understanding the residency rule

To maintain compliance with Red Tractor standards, cattle must reside on a Red Tractor assured holding for a minimum of 90 days prior to slaughter and sheep 60 days.

Importantly, the day of arrival at the holding (referred to as "Day ON") does not count toward the 90/60-day residency requirement. Day 1 is the day following arrival onto the holding.

Additionally, if animals are moved to or from additional holdings during this period, these holdings must also be included in the Red Tractor membership details to ensure continuity of assurance.

While foreign cattle can be classified as farm assured once they meet the 90-day residency criteria, they are not eligible for a supply chain that carries the Red Tractor logo. This rule ensures that the Red Tractor logo, a trusted symbol of UK origin, upholds its reputation for certifying livestock raised entirely within the British Red Tractor Assurance framework. Allowing foreign cattle to enter Red Tractor-branded supply chains would seriously compromise consumer confidence in the logo’s promise of 100% British products.

By maintaining this clear distinction, Red Tractor is reinforcing its commitment to supporting UK farmers and providing clear, reliable assurance to buyers and consumers.

Residency Calculator

Have you heard about the Medicine Hub?

Antimicrobial resistance presents potentially grave consequences for human health, and livestock farming must play its part to ensure responsible antibiotic use, while continuing to protect animal health. With widespread backing from the industry, AHDB has created the Medicine Hub—an online safe and secure platform designed to ensure the responsible use of antibiotics in ruminants by offering an impartial resource for evidence.

As an increasing number of farmers adopt this tool, its capacity to assess and oversee antibiotic usage at a national scale will grow. The initiative is pivotal in enabling the industry to substantiate its commitment to responsible antibiotic usage to consumers, the supply chain, as well as to global competitors and customers.

This type of system has been in place for years in the British pig sector, which has allowed the industry to show significant improvements on reducing antibiotic use.

Click here to access the Medicine Hub.