From October 2017, Red Tractor will be introducing and strengthening standards across their assurance schemes.

As expected, some of the most significant updates relate to the use and recording of antibiotics, demonstrating the UK farming industry’s commitment to tackling antimicrobial resistance.

In addition, there are some standard changes which specifically affect the Red Tractor Health Plan, notably:

DAIRY

• A documented colostrum policy that ensures that youngstock are receiving adequate colostrum needs to be written in the health plan.

BEEF

• A farm biosecurity plan must be created, implemented and updated in relation to health and performance reviews.
• Disinfectants across the farm should be Defra approved.

The good news is that the Myhealthyherd Health Planner, for both Beef and Dairy, already includes those elements within its health planning template, so your clients will continue to be compliant with no additional work required.

Health plans can be created, reviewed and signed off electronically for just £30 per client per annum and, because all of the data is held online, information is rolled forward year-on-year, saving you and your clients precious time when it needs updating.