Beef farmers across Cumbria have joined the move to reject Red Tractor’s push for lifetime assurance for beef.

Farmers have complained that Red Tractor Assurance (RTA) is simply bowing to pressure from the major supermarket chains.

The organisation wants to introduce lifetime assurance for beef in 2016.

This would require animals to spend their whole lives on an assured farm to be sold as Red Tractor beef.

Currently, animals must spend 90 days on an assured farm to qualify for the Red Tractor logo.


According to the National Beef Association (NBA), farmers, including many in Cumbria, remain unconvinced by the plans.

NBA chief executive Chris Mallon said whole-life assurance without the proper infrastructure in place was an unnecessary burden on an industry that is already comprehensively regulated.

Farming organisations have condemned plans to toughen beef certification standards, claiming it would increase costs and bureaucracy, with no evidence it would bring additional financial returns from the market.

But RTA has defended the plans, insisting they are an “important objective to protect the integrity of the Red Tractor brand”.

Following a meeting of the NBA’s policy committee to discuss members’ concerns, Mr Mallon said it stood by its decision to reject the proposals outlined in the Red Tractor consultation.

The committee did, however, agree it could support the plans if certain conditions were met: 

  • cattle EID being implemented – with a minimum of 95 per cent of breeding herd registered; 
  • the existence of a forensically tested database; 
  • a minimum of 90 per cent of all unassured beef suckler and store producers must have subscribed voluntarily to an assurance scheme; 
  • an agreement from retailers and processors to stop imposing discounts on mainstream product ranges on cattle residing on more than four holdings during their lifetime.

Earlier this year, an NBA survey of more than 500 beef farmers found that Red Tractor lacked the support needed for the whole-lifetime assurance scheme.

“The results of our own and other national surveys are consistent, demonstrating around 70 per cent of farmers oppose the RTA proposals,” said Mr Mallon.

“This weight of feeling has even been identified in Red Tractor’s own independent review which stated that ‘clearly more responding farmers are against the proposals than supported them’.”

At a meeting earlier this year, about 70 Cumbrian beef farmers agreed that changing to lifetime assurance was a step too far, and instead called for further promotion of the 90-day rule.

David Thomlinson, an auctioneer with Carlisle-based Harrison & Hetherington, told the meeting that only 50 per cent of beef producers were farm-assured.

He said: “Obviously, the ultimate goal would be for beef to be lifetime assured, not just 90 days, but it does worry me greatly that if we push too hard now, more farmers will drop out of the scheme.”

The meeting was one of several throughout the country looking at the proposals.