What is the Red Tractor Scheme?

Red Tractor is a UK food assurance scheme that sets standards for safety, hygiene, animal welfare, and food production. Farms and businesses within the scheme are inspected to ensure they meet agreed industry standards.

The scheme gives consumers confidence that the food they are buying is safe, traceable, and produced responsibly by certified suppliers.

Why was Red Tractor established?

Red Tractor was introduced to simplify and unify food assurance standards across the UK. Before its introduction, consumers were faced with a wide range of different food labels, which made it difficult to understand what standards products were meeting.

The scheme created a clear, recognisable label that represents safe, high-quality, and responsibly produced food.

Who are Red Tractor?

Red Tractor Assurance is a not-for-profit organisation owned by the food industry. It is funded through assurance fees and licence payments from farmers and food businesses.

The organisation includes representation from across the industry, including:

• National Farmers’ Unions
• Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB)
• Dairy UK
• British Retail Consortium

This structure ensures a balanced approach without any one group having undue influence.

What does Red Tractor Assurance do?

Red Tractor develops and enforces standards across the food supply chain, covering farms, processors, and retailers.

These standards focus on key areas including:

• Animal welfare
• Food safety and hygiene
• Traceability
• Environmental protection

Regular inspections are carried out to ensure all members continue to meet these standards, giving consumers confidence in the integrity of UK food production.

Inspections and ongoing compliance

Red Tractor operates a risk-based inspection system, including unannounced inspections for farms that may fall short of required standards.

The aim is to ensure year-round compliance, meaning farms must meet standards consistently rather than just at inspection time.

Key requirements for medicine use

Medicine usage is a key focus within Red Tractor standards for dairy, beef, and sheep enterprises.

• Create an annual livestock health and performance review with your vet
• Record all medicine usage, including antibiotic treatments
• Use records to support responsible antibiotic use
• Develop disease prevention strategies to reduce reliance on treatments
• Use critically important antibiotics only as a last resort under veterinary guidance
• Ensure staff administering medicines are properly trained

Maintaining accurate and up-to-date records is essential for meeting these requirements and passing inspections.

How Herdwatch can help

Herdwatch makes it easier to stay compliant with Red Tractor standards by simplifying record-keeping and giving you instant access to key farm data.

Medicine records made easy

Record treatments, purchases, and usage directly from your phone, ensuring accurate and up-to-date medicine records at all times.

Audit-ready reports

Generate reports quickly for inspections, helping you demonstrate compliance without the stress of manual paperwork.

Health planning support

Keep track of treatments and herd health data to support discussions with your vet and inform annual health reviews.

Secure, accessible data

Store all records securely in one place, accessible anytime, anywhere, making farm assurance easier to manage.

Stay compliant with confidence

The Red Tractor scheme plays a vital role in maintaining trust in UK food production. By understanding the standards and keeping accurate records, farmers can meet requirements while improving overall farm management.

With digital tools like Herdwatch, staying compliant becomes simpler, allowing you to focus more on running your farm efficiently.