Our Poultry Board this month had a packed agenda.
Leroy Burrell from British Poultry Training provided a recap on how the scheme was set up, the industry governance groups that oversees the delivery of the scheme and clarified roles and responsibilities. He also confirmed that additional resource within Poultec has been allocated to manage increased demand. The board discussed the importance of broader cross-sector industry involvement in shaping the future delivery of both short courses and the Diploma.
The industry move to stocking at 30kg/m2 was discussed and the potential need for Red Tractor to offer an additional tiering within the standards. Key discussions included how we ensure a level playing field for such claims, maintaining accuracy to protect industry and scheme integrity, and reviewing industry performance on stocking density later this year.
We discussed the Poultry Board Terms of Reference and the current make-up of the Board and how important it is to have a balance between farmers, processors, retail and other actors in the supply chain. The Board agreed the TORs and acknowledged that broader representation should be investigated. Policies for setting standards were also discussed and agreed.
I informed the Board that having completed my term, I will be stepping down after the next meeting in November. An open recruitment process for a new Poultry Sector Chair will take place over the summer, and the Board were asked to encourage candidates to apply.
The Farm Assurance Review was also discussed with updates on progress from Red Tractor teams. The Board agreed that Red Tractor was moving in the right direction.
The next stages of developing a poultry scheme strategy were debated and as a Board we agreed to consider all options and bring back thoughts to a meeting to take this topic forward before the next Board meeting.
Finally, the Board reviewed Red Tractor’s communication strategy and discussed how to improve the dissemination of information to site managers as well as business owners.
Kind regards,
Iain Gardner,
Chair, Red Tractor Poultry Board
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