Dairy cows

Arla is to bring its UK dairy farmers in line with those in other countries with the rollout of its Arlagaarden standards scheme

Arla will be rolling out its own farm assurance scheme in the UK as of next year, as it seeks to bring its UK dairy farmers in line with its Scandinavian and German operations.

The Arlagaarden scheme (literally: ‘Arla farm’) requires farmers across the Arla group to stick to common standards on milk composition, food safety, animal welfare and the environment, although there are some country-specific variations to allow for national regulations.

Arla’s vice president of UK milk and member services, Ash Amirahmadi, said the dairy co-operative was currently in the process of defining exactly what Arlagaarden would entail in the UK, with a view to launching a UK version of the scheme next year.

So far, no decision has been made about whether the scheme will also be known as Arlagaarden in the UK and whether it will be flagged up on packs. Amirahmadi said the scheme would initially be fairly “low key” when it launches in the UK next year.

He said retailers were increasingly developing their own proprietary on-farm standards to respond to growing consumer concerns about issues such as animal welfare, which existing standards – such as the Red Tractor – did not always satisfy. In an ideal world, the Red Tractor standard would evolve in response, “but the problem is they get lambasted” every time this was attempted, he said. “We think Arlagaarden can do that job in the UK.”

Amirahmadi stressed there was no intention to “kill off” the Red Tractor but work alongside it, and said Arla was currently talking to Red Tractor Assurance about how the two schemes might work together, including – potentially – on inspections.

Best practice

The scheme would also ensure farmers were in the driving seat in defining best practice on animal welfare and sustainability standards rather than responding to retailer demands, Amirahmadi added. “We think it is our responsibility to drive standards.”

Red Tractor Assurance’s Philippa Wiltshire said the Red Tractor had a “long and positive” relationship with Arla. “RTA is not currently aware of any plans to replace the Red Tractor Dairy scheme with a different Arlagaarden scheme. RTA will continue to work together with Arla and all milk purchasers to ensure the Red Tractor dairy scheme meets the needs of buyers, consumers and farmers.”

The National Farmers Union’s chief dairy adviser, Rob Newbery, said until the specifics of the UK version of Arlagaarden had been defined, it was difficult to say exactly what impact the scheme would have on UK dairy farmers. “In principle, it can be a positive thing if, by working together and having a roughly common standard across the Arla business, they can add value to farmers’ milk. But I very much hope it won’t detract from the Red Tractor.”