Proof of Purchase

We know consumers are often bamboozled by the range of possible certification logos displayed on today’s food products. But they’re not alone.

Here in the UK, where I raise Red Poll beef cattle (pictured above) and Kerry Hill sheep, the volume of audits that farm businesses now face can feel overwhelming. Whether it’s Farm Assurance (a UK food quality assurance scheme required to access most major markets), organic production, or the many retailer-required audits, farmers can face significant demands on their time simply to market their products.

Audit fatigue

Alongside farming, I work as a freelance auditor, inspecting farms across the UK for AGW and a leading organic certifier. One thing I’ve noticed is that farmers are becoming increasingly cynical about certification. They’re weary of additional paperwork and ‘bureaucracy’ and don’t like people they’ve never met—many who have no real farming experience—visiting their farms and ‘telling them how to farm.’ Speaking to farmers at a recent agricultural show, I observed what could best be described as ‘audit fatigue’. Some were saying they’d had enough of farm audits and could “do it for themselves” by making their own claims.

As an independent auditor, this caused me some concern. I know only too well that self-defined and unverified label claims are a dangerous game, particularly as an increasingly savvy and informed consumer is now influencing buyers from the smarter retailer supply chains.

In this context, meaningful certification is more important than ever in order to gain access to wholesale markets—let alone for farms that are selling directly to the public. In a world that is rapidly (and thankfully) waking up to the climate crisis, every farm needs to be on the front foot, actively promoting farming’s pivotal role as a part of the solution, not the problem.

Looking forward

Twenty years ago, my Dad attained Farm Assured certification when our farm was an active dairy holding. But it wasn’t his choice: dairy farms couldn’t sell milk unless they were registered Farm Assured. (It’s still the case now.) Fast-forward to today and we are not Farm Assurece because none of the produce from this farm is processed by large-scale companies. Yet we recently decided to apply for AGW’s Animal Welfare Approved and Grassfed programs for our farm. Why?

If a potential customer asks about the welfare of my cattle or what they are fed, I can tell them we’re Certified Grassfed by AGW—and have a certificate to prove it. An independent certification (backed by science-based environmental and welfare standards) is also becoming increasingly important as UK policymakers look at ways to reward farmers for the public environmental good and services we provide—including carbon capture.

After all, without a trusted independent certification, how can I prove that I really am farming the way I say I am?

Author: Andy Griffiths is a beef cattle farmer and a freelance farm auditor

Originally published in the Fall 2024 issue of AGW’s Sustainable Farming magazine.