Mike Neaverson: Seeing red at Red Tractor’s red tape

It’s a very busy time on the farm – and I’m in the office filling out Red Tractor’s two-page crop rejection form.

It was sent to us on threat of removal from the monopoly scheme, which would leave me with an inability to market any grain.

I will paraphrase for you what it said: “Tut tut. You have been a very, very naughty boy.”

See also: No need for ‘gatekeeper’ alternative to Red Tractor – AIC

About the author

Mike Neaverson

News opinion writer

Mike Neaverson is a potato grower and independent agronomist from South Lincolnshire. After a spell in farm management, he set up his own business in 2017 and is also heavily involved with his family’s 300ha arable farm.

Read more articles by Mike Neaverson

The heinous act? Load 57 of wheat of the season got rejected at the mill when a level of ergot was found in the sample.

Ergot is a fungal pest that has no guaranteed methods of control. It can be dangerous if consumed in large quantities, and can be far worse in some seasons than others.

It’s our responsibility, of course, and I apologise to our customer for the hassle.

But in the grand scheme of agricultural misdemeanours, I would argue that it’s not horsemeat, or human faeces, or hypodermic needles.

And I for one am getting increasingly tired of Red Tractor’s expensive and hassle-filled mission creep in regard to combinable cropping – for next to no added value to the farmer.

Many milling customers are quite happy to import shiploads of grain to save a few quid, and these shipments often arrive in the country with barely any traceability at all.

So what happens when these shipments have got a bit of ergot in them?

No mass balance calculations. No maps of the local borehole. No records of swilling out the ricin, plutonium and offal bucket before loading the milling wheat.

Yet when it comes to fresh produce, I’m a fan of accreditation.

We need a scheme recognised by all the major supermarkets; I do not want to be audited by every single customer, every time I want to sell a few tonnes of potatoes.

After various food scandals, I can see why supermarkets need rigorous and standardised auditing – in a way that the commodity sector absolutely doesn’t.

I’m worried that the goodwill among farmers to RT Combinables is wearing thin, and the fallout could take the credibility of other Red Tractor sectors down with it.

Careful reform is desperately needed to ensure this doesn’t happen.