This month, revised Quality Assurance standards for cattle and sheep production will have landed on many of your doorsteps. We know that these rarely instigate feelings of excitement, but they are there to support our producers not to undermine them.  With QA standards comes customers and healthy market demand.

Quality Assurance is largely driven by the consumer and, for those not selling from the farm gate, that QA logo is the way to connect with consumers, to tell them that you are producing high quality meat to high welfare standards. Consumers are increasingly expressing an interest in the way in which we run our farms and tend to our livestock, influencing their purchasing choices. QA therefore, shouldn’t be viewed as scrutiny or an exercise to catch out farmers, but instead the opportunity to showcase our stock, build upon our relationship with our customers and maintain the farm to fork link which has been lost for too long – and with it, sales and profit.

At QMS, we are constantly keeping an eye on the markets and, from time to time, our QA needs to be revised to align with wider influences. Currently, this is new and emerging trade deals and a transition towards a new agricultural policy outside of the EU with strong emphasis on rewarding environmental outcomes, as well as complementing consumer trends towards conscious buying.

Quality Assurance will support businesses to become more resilient to future changes within the industry and demonstrates that our animal welfare is head and shoulders above our international competitors, our on-farm emissions are kept to a minimum and, for example, that we are listening to the science and reducing the use of antibiotics on-farm. QA is voluntary but a sound guarantee of market access.

One of the key changes is around health planning with an annual vet visit. The further workload is on the vet, rather than the producer, and the relatively small cost incurred may be quickly recuperated with greater productivity the following season. For those already regularly engaging with their vet, the vet will know the stock and it shouldn’t be a great cost. For those who have until now reviewed their own health plan, it may highlight previously unseen opportunity to improve herd health. It’s also a valuable time to have wider proactive conversations with your vet, which rarely occur when they are on your farm for an emergency.

Legal requirements are included in our standards not to create hurdles but to ensure QMS is covering legal due diligence. Ensuring compliance will give producers peace of mind in knowing that their business is prepared for any statutory visits going forward.

There are also additional recommendations (not standards) on preparing for greater environmental transparency, as well as simplification of some of the wording and layout for greater readability.

We know the uncertainty over farming’s future over the past few years has been unsettling to many businesses, which has not been helped by mounting labour challenges, rising feed and fertiliser costs, and now a very concerning world situation. Farmers are rightfully concerned about embracing any changes which, in their view, could further threaten their bottom line. Maintaining and improving these standards should, however, be viewed as an opportunity to future proof and make our red meat businesses more resilient.

All these steps towards greater QA will not only generate brand loyalty but give our produce credibility in a future where we will have to fight above our weight in emerging trade deals as cheaper produce threatens our shores, and to prove our sustainability credentials. If we can put in the groundwork and build trust in our consumers now, it will build long-term profitability and Scotland’s farming future will be a brighter one for all.