Red Tractor Facts and Stats

Accessed here.

• 7,353 Red Tractor assured farm inspections.
• 4,353 (59%) inspections on Red Tractor assured farms recorded at least one non-compliance against regulations checked.
• 19,305 instances of non-compliance recorded on Red Tractor assured farms
• 1,373 follow up visits to non compliant Red Tractor assured farms 
• 4,657 actions resulting from non-compliance on Red Tractor assured farms were recorded as completed by their deadline

Total number of Red Tractor Non-Compliant: 19,305 (All farms & all sectors) 

Accessed here.

1. Beef Cows: 2,557 Non-Compliant (13%)
2. Dairy Cows: 2,385 Non-Compliant (12%)
3. Sheep: 1,382 Non-Compliant (7%)
4. Horses: 280 Non-Compliant (1.5%)
5. Pigs (Indoor): 170 Non-Compliant (1%)
6. Pigs (Outdoor): 90 Non-Compliant (0.5%)
7. Chicken (layers): 133 Non-Compliant (0.7%)
8. Goats: 50 Non-Compliant (0.3%)
9. Other: 50 Non-Compliant (0.3%)
10. Chickens (broilers): 27 Non-Compliant (0.1%)
11. Turkeys: 23 Non-Compliant (0.1%)

Total number of Red Tractor Non-Compliant: 19,305 (All farms & all sectors)

1. Grass: 3,487 Non-Compliant (18%)
2. Permanent Pasture: 1,807 Non-Compliant (9%)
3. Forage Maize: 1,564 Non-Compliant (8.1%)
4. Wheat Winter: 1,458 Non-Compliant (7.6%)
5. Barley Spring: 1,028 Non-Compliant (5%)
6. Barley Winter: 909 Non-Compliant (4.7%)
7. Other: 512 Non-Compliant (2.7%)
8. OSR Winter: 361 Non-Compliant (1.9%)
9. Field Beans: 305 Non-Compliant (1.6%)
10. Wheat Spring: 204 Non-Compliant (1%)
11. Potatoes: 159 Non-Compliant (0.8%)
12. Sugar Beet: 148 Non-Compliant (0.8%)
13. Peas: 125 Non-Compliant (0.6%)
14. Brassicas: 91 Non-Compliant (0.5%)

All Farm Stats (include farms recorded as Red Tractor Assured)

• 16,432 farm inspections.
• 8,111 (49%) of all farms recorded at least one instance of non-compliance against environmental regulations checked.
• 5,462  follow-up inspections have been conducted in response to non-compliance.
• 7,397 actions resulting from non-compliance were recorded as completed by their deadline.

Accessed here.

• In a North Devon case study (2016–2022), 87% of inspected Red Tractor farms were in breach of environmental rules.

Accessed here.

• 62% of the most serious pollution events (Categories 1 & 2) involved Red Tractor-certified farms.
• Certified farms had worse compliance rates than non-certified farms (26% vs 19%).
• The Environment Agency rejected Red Tractor’s bid for “Earned Recognition” due to its failure to meet minimum environmental standards.
• Red Tractor Assured dairy farms accounted for 74% of category 1 and 2 incidents and 66% of category 3. It is likely to be greater since 72 dairy RTA members did not provide their County Parish Holdings (CPH) so could have been responsible for more of the ‘other farms’ incidents.
• Slurry caused the most pollution incidents by far (30% of total).