Farm assurance 'reset' required to rebuild farmers' confidence

The review said on-farm audits had caused stress, complexity and a sense of 'jeopardy' amongst farmers

Chris Brayford
clock • 9 min read
Dr David Llewellyn, lead commissioner of the UK Farm Assurance report, said: "We found competing interests and ambitions for the farm assurance system. Over time, that has added complexity and stress for farmers, many of whom now struggle to identify any real benefits to their business. Worse still, many feel they live in a permanent state of jeopardy with ‘make or break' audits determining whether their businesses can operate or not."
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Dr David Llewellyn, lead commissioner of the UK Farm Assurance report, said: "We found competing interests and ambitions for the farm assurance system. Over time, that has added complexity and stress for farmers, many of whom now struggle to identify any real benefits to their business. Worse still, many feel they live in a permanent state of jeopardy with ‘make or break' audits determining whether their businesses can operate or not."

An independent review into UK farm assurance schemes has outlined measures calling for a 'fundamental reset' of the current system in order to rebuild trust and confidence with farmers. The report,...

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