Poultry Scheme
Introduction from Nick Major, Sector Chair
Red Tractor assurance in the Poultry sector is valued by consumers, food businesses and governments, both here in the UK and around the world.
The Red Tractor Poultry Standards are overseen by the Poultry Sector Board, which plays a critical role in providing strategic direction, ensuring robust governance, and supporting the long-term sustainability of the Poultry standards. Made up of industry expertise and representation from across the Poultry sector – including producers, processors and retailers – the Sector Board exists to guide and shape the future of the sector, ensuring it remains resilient, productive, and responsive to changing market and environmental demands.
Sector Chair Directors
Chair Nick Major
Nick brings extensive executive and non-executive experience across the agricultural supply industry. He spent 38 years with animal feed company, ForFarmers, holding senior sales, marketing, management and corporate affairs roles, where he led the development of its sustainability strategy. Nick has also held numerous board, trustee and advisory positions, including Chairman of the Agricultural Industries Confederation and Chair of the Global Feed LCA Institute. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Farmers.
Judith Irons
TAC Chair
TAC Chair
Nick Major
Chair
Chair
Aaron McKenna
British Poultry Council
Northern Ireland/Integrator
Clay Burrows
British Poultry Council
Primary Breeders/Turkey
Elena O’Callaghan
Retail
Retailer
Gavin Foster
British Poultry Council
Duck Integrator
Jonty Hay
NFU
Farmer
Keith Warner
Integrator
Integrator
Kevin Sketcher
British Poultry Council
Chicken Integrator
Patrick Hook
NFU
Farmer/Hatcheries
Viv Harris
British Retail Consortium
Retailer
Will Raw
NFU
Farmer
Technical Advisory Committee members
Standards that are fit for the future
The Poultry Standards are written by a representative group of industry experts, who make up the Poultry Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). Chaired by Judith Irons, this group advises the Sector Board on the wording and practicalities of assessing potential new standards, and the removal of obsolete standards and audit points.
For over 25 years, these standards have underpinned trust in the sector. The Poultry Sector Board has produced a strategy to to build on this position of trust, and the TAC have reviewed the standards, so they are fit for the future.
Judith Irons
TAC Chair
Adekunle Adebiyi
Feed Representative
Adrian Rushby
Chicken Breeder & Hatchery Representative
Allan Ball
Poultry Veterinarian/Welfare
Annabelle Heath
Turkey Intgerator
Barry Browning
Chicken Free Range
Dy Loach
Chicken Integrator
Emily Hall
Duck Breeder Representative
Jonathan Garner
Turkey Integrator
Márie Burnett
British Poultry Council
Matthew Donald
Independent Farmer/NFU
Muhammed Maliki
Chicken Integrator and Northern Ireland Representative
Nick Davies
Chicken Integrator
Rachel Dewhurst
Duck Integrator
Sam Jones
Turkey Breeder Representative
Stephanie Robinson
Turkey Extensive Production
VACANT
Retailer
Priorities and objectives
Red Tractor is in the process of reviewing its farm-facing standards and assessment process. The aim of this review is to harness new technologies, data and stakeholder input to streamline assessments, support the reduction of audit burden, and maintain customer confidence – while ensuring standards remain relevant.
Objectives for Poultry
The following priorities have been identified:
- Update standards for alignment and impact, and explore options for new modules
- Look to evolve audit practices to be more efficient, including options to differentiate audit depths, enabling group-level audits where appropriate, and prioritising welfare outcomes.
- Improve engagement through clear communication, better audits, and farmer tools.
- Harness technology and data for compliance, benchmarking, and enhanced scheme reputation.
- Champion British poultry through transparency, provenance, and leadership on performance, and value add-ons for welfare and sustainability.
Priority actions (2026 Review)
To deliver these objectives, the Sector Board and TAC, will:
- Refresh the Poultry TAC and start a standards review
- Explore additional certification modules to support environmental and welfare aims
- Define data governance through a dedicated group
- Scope opportunities to harness data from the industry to inform compliance and group level audit options
- Kick off farmer engagement and technical communications refresh
Longer term focus
Between 2027 and 2030:
- Launch updated standards and modular options in 2027
- Pilot data driven risk-based audits
- Begin data integration and farmer-facing tools for benchmarking
- Support foodservice visibility and remain adaptable to evolve market asks and regulatory requirements, while safeguarding scheme integrity.
Longer term, the Pigs Sector Board will explore:
- Ways to embed data to lead towards a continuous compliance model of improved performance
- Enhanced scheme trust, transparency, and reduced audit duplication for market needs
- Use sector data to showcase leadership in standards and performance
Poultry Standards
Poultry news
Sector Board updates
Latest Poultry technical briefing
Improvements
Learn about priorities for each sector
Beef & Lamb
Crops & Sugar Beet
Dairy
Fresh Produce
Pigs
Poultry
Ownership Body
Red Tractor Board of Directors
Red Tractor Leadership Team
