Back to Standards
Red Tractor is considered world leading in farming standards. That’s why when you see the Red Tractor logo you can be confident your food and drink is traceable, safe and farmed with care.

To be Red Tractor assured, our beef and lamb farmers must work tirelessly to maintain a rigorous set of standards that keep animal welfare at their core and ensure we can deliver full supply chain traceability and safety.

Take a look at some of our beef and lamb standards…

Did you know…
Unlike some other countries around the world, Red Tractor does not permit the use of hormones or antibiotics to promote growth. Over the last decade, British farmers have significantly lowered antibiotic use and now have some of the lowest usage rates in the world.
Red meat is one of the richest sources of essential nutrients such as iron, zinc and B vitamins in the diet, as well as a significant source of protein.
Meet Red Tractor Beef and Lamb Farmer, Richard
Standards vary hugely throughout the world and what’s commonplace in other countries is actually illegal here. So just by looking for the Red Tractor you can see that it has been produced to British standards and is British food
Richard
Red Tractor Beef And Lamb Farmer

Although the main role of a beef and lamb farmer is to care for their livestock, we often underestimate what a huge role it is to maintain and look after the land on the farm as well.

“The whole ecosystem runs off this farm so as well as all the livestock and sheep, we’ve got all the deer and the hares and the foxes and all the wildlife that rely on this farm. So it’s up to us to keep the place in good shape and manage the countryside as well as our animals and crops”

Everything Richard does on his farm can have an impact on the environment. Which is why last year he conducted a full audit of his farm’s carbon footprint to help him and his team identify where they can make improvements and where they’re performing at their best.

“We did a massive farm audit of our carbon last year and then we can work out from there where our most carbon efficient areas are and where we need to improve. For instance, we’re now reducing the fertilizer on our grassland to try and make ourselves more environmentally sensitive and produce beef with a much lower carbon footprint”

 

Most of the year Richard’s cattle are outside grazing on fresh, green grass, but during the winter, they are brought inside to keep them warm and preserve the grassland.

“Most of the year they’re outside on the grass and that’s what they eat all summer long, but we bring them inside for winter because the grass gets too wet, and the soil gets really muddy. That’s when we put them onto silage so this is all grass grown on the farm in spring and then we wrap it up and we store it so it can pickle and preserve its goodness for them to eat during the winter”