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Red Tractor founder awarded CBE
David Clarke , a founding member of Red Tractor Assurance , has been honoured with a CBE in the Queen ’ s New Year Honours .
S et up in 2000 after the reputation of British food and farming had been devastated by a decade of food scares , Mr Clarke was the organisation ’ s first chief executive and led the scheme for 17 years .
During his tenure Red Tractor grew from nothing to the UK ’ s leading assurance scheme with 46,000 farm businesses in membership and £ 14bn of food bearing the Red Tractor logo .
The post was the final piece of a 50-year career spanning food and farming which saw him established as one of the UK ’ s leading authorities on food assurance .
He first worked in manufacturing in the Wall ’ s Meat Company before a 22-year stint in food service with the Forte Group in technical support and supply chain management roles .
“ Providing people with safe , nutritious and affordable food is an enterprise with fundamental importance and it has been a privilege to work in food and farming for nearly five decades ,” Mr Clarke said .
“ My position with the Red Tractor scheme in the latter part of my career was especially rewarding .
“ I think this honour only serves to underline the importance of this national initiative to ensure good standards of production across the UK supply chain from farm to retail shelf .”
Armed with a small budget and a handful of staff , Mr Clarke grew Red Tractor to a business built on transparency , honesty and reliability .
He overcame government bureaucracy , industry politics and major media events such as the horsemeat scandal while convincing farmers , processors and retailers of the value of the Red Tractor logo .
“ The future and especially Brexit will bring new challenges and opportunities for the Red Tractor team but I am confident they will be up to the task .
“ Anything I have achieved was only possible with the help and support of the team and a wide range of colleagues across the industry . I am grateful to the many friends I worked with through the journey .”
Privately , Mr Clarke works tirelessly in his local community collecting and raising thousands of pounds for charity , most notably St Raphael ’ s Hospice in Sutton .
A CBE is the highest Order of the British Empire honour the Queen can bestow and Mr Clarke will receive his accolade in the New Year .
Bovine TB eradication strategy update
NFU response .
M inette Batters , NFU Deputy President , said : “ The Chief Vet has said that this year ’ s results show badger control can be delivered successfully on a wider scale and that expansion into further areas will help achieve and maintain long-term disease control benefits across the area where the disease is rife . We will continue to offer help , advice and support to farmers who want to apply for a cull licence in these areas and where culling will have a beneficial impact on disease control .
“ The Chief Vet has also reiterated that preventing infection of cattle from the significant reservoirs of TB infection in local badger populations is an essential component of the Government ’ s 25-year TB eradication strategy and that proactive culling remains the best available option to deal with the reservoir of disease in wildlife in these areas .
“ No one has ever said culling alone will eradicate bovine TB . Only by using all the available options – cattle testing , cattle movement controls , on-farm biosecurity , and vaccination of badgers in areas on the edge of disease spread – will we stand a chance of controlling and eradicating this devastating disease , which led to more than 29,000 cattle being slaughtered in England last year .
“ The introduction of default sixmonthly testing in the high risk area is a logical step , given that the frequency of testing has been increased in the edge area . We still seek assurances from Defra that when this is introduced they will have the capacity to implement it , to ensure farmers are not punished for non-compliance if they are unable to get a vet out on farm to do a bTB test because noone is available .
“ We are disappointed that Defra has decided to press ahead with restricting compensation for cattle which are unclean when presented for slaughter . We have concerns over how this policy will be implemented and managed and will be seeking clarity from Defra on the detail behind this and also the changes to the rules around the delayed slaughter of pregnant cattle which test positive for bTB .
“ The introduction of new compensation arrangements for non-bovine species will provide some certainty and security to farmers who previously would have received little or no compensation for animals they lost to bTB which could have had significant implications for the future of their businesses .”
06 | Farming Monthly | January 2018 www . farmingmonthly . co . uk