Red Tractor statement on BBC Panorama’s “A Cow’s Life: The True Cost of Milk?”

Updated – 17 February 2022

Following a full investigation which examined all the evidence, Red Tractor has terminated this farm’s dairy scheme membership with immediate effect.

The undercover footage showed serious breaches of Red Tractor standards and the law, demonstrating a systematic disregard for animal welfare by those with a duty of care.

Red Tractor’s system of routine farm inspections and unannounced spot checks go a long way to ensuring compliance with our standards. Where there is a clear violation of our membership rules and our standards are not upheld, a farm will be terminated from our scheme.

We accept that some breaches are not always detectable during inspections, which is why we have a number of ways for individuals to share their concerns with us, including our confidential ‘Tell Us’ reporting service.

Red Tractor assures over 11,000 dairy farms which meet robust standards on animal welfare, environmental protection and food safety. Three other dairy farms were featured in Panorama’s programme, each was Red Tractor assured and represented good farming practices.

The unacceptable actions of staff on one farm in no way represents the vast majority of UK dairy farmers or British agricultural practice.

15 February 2022

Protecting animal health and welfare is a top priority and we take any allegations of breaches to our standards very seriously.

Attacking animals is unacceptable and on seeing the footage this farm’s certification was immediately suspended. A full investigation has been launched.

Red Tractor statement on BBC Panorama’s “A Cow’s Life: The True Cost of Milk?”

Updated – 17 February 2022

Following a full investigation which examined all the evidence, Red Tractor has terminated this farm’s dairy scheme membership with immediate effect.

The undercover footage showed serious breaches of Red Tractor standards and the law, demonstrating a systematic disregard for animal welfare by those with a duty of care.

Red Tractor’s system of routine farm inspections and unannounced spot checks go a long way to ensuring compliance with our standards. Where there is a clear violation of our membership rules and our standards are not upheld, a farm will be terminated from our scheme.

We accept that some breaches are not always detectable during inspections, which is why we have a number of ways for individuals to share their concerns with us, including our confidential ‘Tell Us’ reporting service.

Red Tractor assures over 11,000 dairy farms which meet robust standards on animal welfare, environmental protection and food safety. Three other dairy farms were featured in Panorama’s programme, each was Red Tractor assured and represented good farming practices.

The unacceptable actions of staff on one farm in no way represents the vast majority of UK dairy farmers or British agricultural practice.

15 February 2022

Protecting animal health and welfare is a top priority and we take any allegations of breaches to our standards very seriously.

Attacking animals is unacceptable and on seeing the footage this farm’s certification was immediately suspended. A full investigation has been launched.

Red Tractor statement on BBC Panorama’s “A Cow’s Life: The True Cost of Milk?”

Updated – 17 February 2022

Following a full investigation which examined all the evidence, Red Tractor has terminated this farm’s dairy scheme membership with immediate effect.

The undercover footage showed serious breaches of Red Tractor standards and the law, demonstrating a systematic disregard for animal welfare by those with a duty of care.

Red Tractor’s system of routine farm inspections and unannounced spot checks go a long way to ensuring compliance with our standards. Where there is a clear violation of our membership rules and our standards are not upheld, a farm will be terminated from our scheme.

We accept that some breaches are not always detectable during inspections, which is why we have a number of ways for individuals to share their concerns with us, including our confidential ‘Tell Us’ reporting service.

Red Tractor assures over 11,000 dairy farms which meet robust standards on animal welfare, environmental protection and food safety. Three other dairy farms were featured in Panorama’s programme, each was Red Tractor assured and represented good farming practices.

The unacceptable actions of staff on one farm in no way represents the vast majority of UK dairy farmers or British agricultural practice.

15 February 2022

Protecting animal health and welfare is a top priority and we take any allegations of breaches to our standards very seriously.

Attacking animals is unacceptable and on seeing the footage this farm’s certification was immediately suspended. A full investigation has been launched.

Red Tractor statement on BBC Panorama’s “A Cow’s Life: The True Cost of Milk?”

Updated – 17 February 2022

Following a full investigation which examined all the evidence, Red Tractor has terminated this farm’s dairy scheme membership with immediate effect.

The undercover footage showed serious breaches of Red Tractor standards and the law, demonstrating a systematic disregard for animal welfare by those with a duty of care.

Red Tractor’s system of routine farm inspections and unannounced spot checks go a long way to ensuring compliance with our standards. Where there is a clear violation of our membership rules and our standards are not upheld, a farm will be terminated from our scheme.

We accept that some breaches are not always detectable during inspections, which is why we have a number of ways for individuals to share their concerns with us, including our confidential ‘Tell Us’ reporting service.

Red Tractor assures over 11,000 dairy farms which meet robust standards on animal welfare, environmental protection and food safety. Three other dairy farms were featured in Panorama’s programme, each was Red Tractor assured and represented good farming practices.

The unacceptable actions of staff on one farm in no way represents the vast majority of UK dairy farmers or British agricultural practice.

15 February 2022

Protecting animal health and welfare is a top priority and we take any allegations of breaches to our standards very seriously.

Attacking animals is unacceptable and on seeing the footage this farm’s certification was immediately suspended. A full investigation has been launched.

Red Tractor statement on BBC Panorama’s “A Cow’s Life: The True Cost of Milk?”

Updated – 17 February 2022

Following a full investigation which examined all the evidence, Red Tractor has terminated this farm’s dairy scheme membership with immediate effect.

The undercover footage showed serious breaches of Red Tractor standards and the law, demonstrating a systematic disregard for animal welfare by those with a duty of care.

Red Tractor’s system of routine farm inspections and unannounced spot checks go a long way to ensuring compliance with our standards. Where there is a clear violation of our membership rules and our standards are not upheld, a farm will be terminated from our scheme.

We accept that some breaches are not always detectable during inspections, which is why we have a number of ways for individuals to share their concerns with us, including our confidential ‘Tell Us’ reporting service.

Red Tractor assures over 11,000 dairy farms which meet robust standards on animal welfare, environmental protection and food safety. Three other dairy farms were featured in Panorama’s programme, each was Red Tractor assured and represented good farming practices.

The unacceptable actions of staff on one farm in no way represents the vast majority of UK dairy farmers or British agricultural practice.

15 February 2022

Protecting animal health and welfare is a top priority and we take any allegations of breaches to our standards very seriously.

Attacking animals is unacceptable and on seeing the footage this farm’s certification was immediately suspended. A full investigation has been launched.

Let’s make farms safer in 2022

As we start 2022, we know our members are working as hard as ever to meet the challenges they’re up against.

One challenge that needs to be at the forefront of everyone’s minds is improving on-farm safety.

You’ll probably be aware that British agriculture has the worst rate of fatal injuries of all the UK’s main industries.

Farmers and farm workers are 20 times more likely to be killed at work than the national average for all industries, according to the latest Health and Safety Executive (HSE) figures.

Shockingly, a recent RABI survey (PDF) has found that 16% of farmers have experienced injuries at work, and more than six out of 10 farmers suffer from work related pain.

Help save lives and protect the health of farm workers

We hope you’ll agree that improving our industry’s safety record is vital, which is why we believe it is essential to check that all farms have a Health and Safety Policy in place, and that anyone who is on site is made aware of it.

Of course, this isn’t a fix-all solution, but having a written policy in place and making sure everyone on site understands it is an important early step to improving on-farm safety.

As you know, a new set of revised farm standards for Red Tractor members in came into effect in November.

Our standards are now consistent across all schemes when it comes to helping tackle the high rate of accidents that occur on UK farms.

Red Tractor assurance means food is British, traceable, safe, and responsibly produced.

It is the responsibility of all of us to make sure that food is safe to eat, but also that the health of those whose job it is to produce it isn’t harmed in the process.

Extra clarification

The standard PL.5 requires all farms to have a written Health and Safety Policy, and this should be communicated to any workers. Please read the relevant scheme standards manual or visit our website for full details.

Preparing a Health and Safety Policy doesn’t have to be time consuming. There are free tools available, including a downloadable policy template on the HSE’s website.

For more information and handy tips to help you meet every standard, every day and to avoid non-conformances at your next assessment please visit our website. If you have any questions, please get in touch with the Red Tractor team.

Thank you for working with us to make British agriculture safer.

Red Tractor statement on BBC Panorama’s “A Cow’s Life: The True Cost of Milk?”

Updated – 17 February 2022

Following a full investigation which examined all the evidence, Red Tractor has terminated this farm’s dairy scheme membership with immediate effect.

The undercover footage showed serious breaches of Red Tractor standards and the law, demonstrating a systematic disregard for animal welfare by those with a duty of care.

Red Tractor’s system of routine farm inspections and unannounced spot checks go a long way to ensuring compliance with our standards. Where there is a clear violation of our membership rules and our standards are not upheld, a farm will be terminated from our scheme.

We accept that some breaches are not always detectable during inspections, which is why we have a number of ways for individuals to share their concerns with us, including our confidential ‘Tell Us’ reporting service.

Red Tractor assures over 11,000 dairy farms which meet robust standards on animal welfare, environmental protection and food safety. Three other dairy farms were featured in Panorama’s programme, each was Red Tractor assured and represented good farming practices.

The unacceptable actions of staff on one farm in no way represents the vast majority of UK dairy farmers or British agricultural practice.

15 February 2022

Protecting animal health and welfare is a top priority and we take any allegations of breaches to our standards very seriously.

Attacking animals is unacceptable and on seeing the footage this farm’s certification was immediately suspended. A full investigation has been launched.

Red Tractor statement on BBC Panorama’s “A Cow’s Life: The True Cost of Milk?”

Updated – 17 February 2022

Following a full investigation which examined all the evidence, Red Tractor has terminated this farm’s dairy scheme membership with immediate effect.

The undercover footage showed serious breaches of Red Tractor standards and the law, demonstrating a systematic disregard for animal welfare by those with a duty of care.

Red Tractor’s system of routine farm inspections and unannounced spot checks go a long way to ensuring compliance with our standards. Where there is a clear violation of our membership rules and our standards are not upheld, a farm will be terminated from our scheme.

We accept that some breaches are not always detectable during inspections, which is why we have a number of ways for individuals to share their concerns with us, including our confidential ‘Tell Us’ reporting service.

Red Tractor assures over 11,000 dairy farms which meet robust standards on animal welfare, environmental protection and food safety. Three other dairy farms were featured in Panorama’s programme, each was Red Tractor assured and represented good farming practices.

The unacceptable actions of staff on one farm in no way represents the vast majority of UK dairy farmers or British agricultural practice.

15 February 2022

Protecting animal health and welfare is a top priority and we take any allegations of breaches to our standards very seriously.

Attacking animals is unacceptable and on seeing the footage this farm’s certification was immediately suspended. A full investigation has been launched.

Red Tractor statement on BBC Panorama’s “A Cow’s Life: The True Cost of Milk?”

Updated – 17 February 2022

Following a full investigation which examined all the evidence, Red Tractor has terminated this farm’s dairy scheme membership with immediate effect.

The undercover footage showed serious breaches of Red Tractor standards and the law, demonstrating a systematic disregard for animal welfare by those with a duty of care.

Red Tractor’s system of routine farm inspections and unannounced spot checks go a long way to ensuring compliance with our standards. Where there is a clear violation of our membership rules and our standards are not upheld, a farm will be terminated from our scheme.

We accept that some breaches are not always detectable during inspections, which is why we have a number of ways for individuals to share their concerns with us, including our confidential ‘Tell Us’ reporting service.

Red Tractor assures over 11,000 dairy farms which meet robust standards on animal welfare, environmental protection and food safety. Three other dairy farms were featured in Panorama’s programme, each was Red Tractor assured and represented good farming practices.

The unacceptable actions of staff on one farm in no way represents the vast majority of UK dairy farmers or British agricultural practice.

15 February 2022

Protecting animal health and welfare is a top priority and we take any allegations of breaches to our standards very seriously.

Attacking animals is unacceptable and on seeing the footage this farm’s certification was immediately suspended. A full investigation has been launched.

Red Tractor statement on BBC Panorama’s “A Cow’s Life: The True Cost of Milk?”

Updated – 17 February 2022

Following a full investigation which examined all the evidence, Red Tractor has terminated this farm’s dairy scheme membership with immediate effect.

The undercover footage showed serious breaches of Red Tractor standards and the law, demonstrating a systematic disregard for animal welfare by those with a duty of care.

Red Tractor’s system of routine farm inspections and unannounced spot checks go a long way to ensuring compliance with our standards. Where there is a clear violation of our membership rules and our standards are not upheld, a farm will be terminated from our scheme.

We accept that some breaches are not always detectable during inspections, which is why we have a number of ways for individuals to share their concerns with us, including our confidential ‘Tell Us’ reporting service.

Red Tractor assures over 11,000 dairy farms which meet robust standards on animal welfare, environmental protection and food safety. Three other dairy farms were featured in Panorama’s programme, each was Red Tractor assured and represented good farming practices.

The unacceptable actions of staff on one farm in no way represents the vast majority of UK dairy farmers or British agricultural practice.

15 February 2022

Protecting animal health and welfare is a top priority and we take any allegations of breaches to our standards very seriously.

Attacking animals is unacceptable and on seeing the footage this farm’s certification was immediately suspended. A full investigation has been launched.