COMBINABLE CROPS
A Red Tractor farmer’s land is often their home, and they care about looking after the British countryside which we all know and love. To do this, they are required to maintain a robust set of standards to become Red Tractor assured.
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Take a look at some of our combinable crops standards…
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There must be clear identification of the product throughout the supply chain to ensure full traceability back to the farm
Did you know?
All Red Tractor grain requires a passport to ensure supply chain traceability. This is part of proving it has met rigorous certified standards
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Anyone working on a Red Tractor certified farm must be trained and demonstrably competent to carry out their job
Application of Plant Protection Products (PPPs) and fertilisers must be safely executed to prevent contamination or pollution of the wider environment. Use of such products is strictly regulated and plans must be in place to minimise their use without compromising product quality
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What are PPPs?
- Plant Protection Products (PPPs) are used in crop production to keep the plants healthy. They include things like pesticides, insecticides and fungicides
- Protection from pest and disease is vital to ensure quality crops grow successfully. Red Tractor growers adopt the principles of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to ensure the use of these products use is minimised
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Farmers must minimise any adverse impact the farm has on wildlife, flora, fauna and the environment
How do they do this?
- Practices must then be adopted to minimize the impact of the farm on features of biodiversity and conservation value on or around the farm
- Soil must be managed in a way that aims to maintain soil condition
- Excessive use of water is not permitted
- Only appropriate, safe and suitable fertilisers must be applied
- All wastes must be disposed of in a manner that minimises the risk of contamination or pollution
In order to become the final grain product in your bread and cereals, the crops must go through a number of processes after harvest. This is why the entire supply chain has to be certified to Red Tractor standards.
ASSURED TRANSPORT
Any vehicles transporting crops must be assured.
ASSURED GRAIN STORAGE
Grains often need to be stored for long periods of time between harvest and processing. When this happens, the storage facility must also be assured to ensure the grains remain safe and in good condition.
ASSURED UK MALTSER
Maltsters take the grains and convert them into malt through a process of steeping, germinating and drying the grains. The malt is them sold to distilleries and brewers.
ASSURED LICENSED PROCESSOR/ FURTHER PROCESSOR
Processors and further processors take grain deliveries and then process, pack and label them. They can include millers, cereal manufacturers and distillers and they must also be licensed to display the logo.
RED TRACTOR PRODUCT
The final product can only display the Red Tractor logo if it has met rigorous standards at every point in the supply chain and can be traced back to the British farms it came from.