A new study of global farm assurance schemes has found Red Tractor to have world-leading standards.
The international benchmarking study looked at prominent global schemes such as GLOBALG.A.P, Soil Association QS Germany and Leaf.
The results concluded that the Red Tractor scheme exceeds in areas such as traceability and food safety.
In the Beef & Lamb category, Red Tractor was found to be the strongest overall scheme in terms of breadth and depth.
Red Tractor is also the strongest overall scheme in Dairy in terms of breadth and depth including traceability, biosecurity, record keeping and milk production standards.
In Produce, Red Tractor and GLOBALG.A.P are the strongest overall schemes by a considerable margin.
The research was conducted over the past six months by independent Nuffield Scholar Dr Jonathan Birnie.
Dr Birnie holds a PhD from the Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland & Queens University. He has worked for Sainsbury’s and Dunbia.
He said: “As a complete scheme Red Tractor is the highest performing on an international basis. While there are areas that could be developed the existing scheme is comprehensive and a great foundation on which to build these additional standards.
“I have come away with a great amount of confidence in Red Tractor following my detailed comparable analysis of all food sectors globally.”
The findings support Red Tractor’s planned development to cover specialist areas such as higher welfare, environmental enhancement and organic production.
