Red Tractor to review advertising plans after AHDB cuts funding

Red Tractor says it will be forced to review its “ambitious” advertising plans after the AHDB decided to withdraw funding for the farm assurance scheme.

The AHDB announced on Tuesday (14 December) that its board felt it was “no longer appropriate” to provide annual funding for Red Tractor, as the privately-owned organisation is “financially established and self-sustaining”.

Farmers Weekly reported in October that the AHDB had decided to withhold the £250,000 annual payments in its 2021-22 budget usually earmarked for Red Tractor.

See also: Red Tractor – the pros and cons of farm assurance schemes

The AHDB said it had written to Red Tractor to raise several concerns, including a perceived lack of clarity and understanding by consumers of its role, questions about the effectiveness of its current assurance process and the effectiveness of the label in defending the market and/or achieving a premium.

It first agreed to put levy funding into Red Tractor following an industry consultation in 2008, which backed the development of a comprehensive food quality assurance scheme to consolidate farm audits and the development of a single label as the manifestation of trusted production standards.

Premium prices

AHDB chairman Nicholas Saphir said: “It remains AHDB’s clear position that farm assurance is necessary and important to farming success, as a consumer benchmark [or “kite mark”] denoting safety, quality and provenance and/or in helping farmers achieve premium prices where food is produced to particular standards which customers and consumers attach additional value.

“Red Tractor is now well-established and it no longer requires AHDB’s basic annual financial support.

“However, AHDB has informed Red Tractor that it would continue to consider providing funds for specific work or projects that are deemed to add demonstrable value to levy payers or help levy payers to reach agreed standards. 

“In addition, where there are issues, AHDB will continue to ask the tough questions and use its independence and evidence-based approach to facilitate the finding of solutions between Red Tractor and its’ stakeholders.”

Meanwhile, the AHDB has been raising questions and encouraging parties to come together over the current levy payer concern around grain imports and whether the controls in place for imported grain provide the same levels of assurance and clarity as those of Red Tractor for English product.

“Work on this issue is continuing and it remains a very high priority for some of our cereals levy payers,” added Mr Saphir.

Disappointment

Red Tractor said it was disappointed to learn of the AHDB board’s decision.

“We are focused on delivering for our members and we continue to listen to them, sharing their ambition for greater promotion of British food and farming,” said a Red Tractor spokesman.

“Regrettably, the AHDB’s funding decision means we will now need to reconsider our advertising plans, which we understand will come as a disappointment to farmers and the wider food supply chain.”