A major review of UK farm assurance schemes has concluded it is “essential” for the longer-term delivery of consumer confidence that livestock spend all of their lives on assured farms.

“Livestock farm assurance schemes that do not deliver whole-life assurance should establish a plan to do so,” reads the review, completed by four independent commissioners, led by former Harper Adams Vice-Chancellor, Dr David Llewellyn.

The commissioners expect action to be taken on lifetime assurance “within one year of publication” of their work.

Resistance

Previous attempts to introduce lifetime assurance by the likes of Red Tractor have generally been resisted by farm organisations amid concerns about the practicality of signing up all farmers to an assurance scheme.

In NI, over 98% of cattle are farm-assured at slaughter, but previous analysis has suggested only around two-thirds have spent their entire lives on an assured farm. At present, to be classed as farm-assured, cattle must complete 90 days pre-slaughter on a farm-assured holding.

In 2024, membership of the NI beef and lamb Farm Quality Assurance Scheme (FQAS) stood at 11,169, with that total actually down by around 1,000 in five years. The latest DAERA analysis shows there are 20,232 farms in NI with cattle.

Positives

While getting all cattle and sheep farms in NI farm-assured would be major logistical challenge, there are some positive recommendations in the Llewellyn-led review, including that there should be less farm inspections for scheme members.

The work was commissioned by the main UK farming unions, alongside the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB). See page 6.