The Red Tractor assurance scheme has announced it is adding two new modules to its Pigs Scheme – Enhanced Welfare Outdoor Bred and Free Range.
Red Tractor has said it is introducing two new modules to the Red Tractor Pigs Scheme highlighting outdoor bred and free range products, accompanied by new on-pack logos to help Red Tractor-assured pig producers and Red Tractor-licensed food businesses communicate higher animal welfare inputs to shoppers.
The new modules, which have been subject to “extensive consultation”, have been developed over the last 18 months and build on Red Tractor’s additional welfare modules in the poultry sector. Red Tractor said that the modules have been benchmarked against existing market standards to ensure they “reflect meaningful, recognised welfare standards” while fitting within the practical realities of commercial pig production.
Stewart Houston, chair of the Red Tractor Pigs Sector, said: “These new standards will demonstrate welfare inputs that are a step above our already high core range.
“The new logos will provide consumers with greater choice on the shelf, while the standards sitting behind them provide outdoor producers a way of reducing their on-farm audits while maintaining access to existing markets.”
“Producers have been clear that they want fair recognition for the additional time, investment and care that goes into higher-welfare systems.”
Steward Houston, Red Tractor
Houston added: “Producers have been clear that they want fair recognition for the additional time, investment and care that goes into higher-welfare systems.
“These new modules and logos do exactly that – they give farmers a practical, trusted route to demonstrate better welfare while helping retailers and consumers to recognise those commitments easily. We developed the standards with wide industry input and by benchmarking against established schemes, so producers, licensees, customers and consumers can have confidence in what these logos represent.”
The new modules and on-pack logos are intended to streamline assurance activity for producers who currently participate in multiple schemes – a recommendation central to the Farm Assurance Review – and to improve efficiency throughout the supply chain, said Red Tractor.
