Farm Assurance
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Farm assurance is
product certification Product certification or product qualification is the process of certifying that a certain product has passed performance tests and quality assurance tests, and meets qualification criteria stipulated in contracts, regulations, or specification ...
for
agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...
products that emphasises the principles of
quality assurance Quality assurance (QA) is the term used in both manufacturing and service industries to describe the systematic efforts taken to assure that the product(s) delivered to customer(s) meet with the contractual and other agreed upon performance, design ...
. The emphasis on quality assurance means that, in addition to product inspection, farm assurance schemes may include standards and certification for traceability, production methods, transport, and supplies. All farm assurance schemes claim to ensure high standards of animal welfare, although there is great variation in the requirements that relate to how animals should be kept and cared for. In our United Kingdom and Australia, the major farm assurance programmes are based on a quality management system for food safety that originated with the US space agency NASA, known as
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points Hazard analysis and critical control points, or HACCP (), is a systematic preventive approach to food safety from biological hazard, biological, chemical hazard, chemical, and physical hazards in production processes that can cause the finished ...
(HACCP). In these and other countries, assurance is underpinned by principles and standards for
good manufacturing practice Current good manufacturing practices (cGMP) are those conforming to the guidelines recommended by relevant agencies. Those agencies control the authorization and licensing of the manufacture and sale of food and beverages, cosmetics, pharmaceutic ...
(GMP), good agricultural practice (GAP), good hygienic practice and good trade practice.. "The basis for any quality system is good practice, especially good manufacturing practice, good agricultural practice, good hygienic practice and good trade practice". Examples of farm assurance schemes include: *
organic certification Organic certification is a certification process for producers of organic food and other organic agricultural products.Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic pr ...
*
The Non-GMO Project The Non-GMO Project is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization focusing on genetically modified organisms. The organization began as an initiative of independent natural foods retailers in the U.S. and Canada, with the stated aim to label products p ...
, a US organization whose Product Verification Program certifies products that follow best practices to avoid GMO contamination *
Red Tractor mark Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...
, a UK quality assurance programme for animal products and crops
Freedom Food
animal welfare assurance from the
RSPCA The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales which promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest a ...
* Grainsafe, Indiana-based programme * IKB (Integrated chain control system), Netherlands programme * the Australian dairy industry's range of HAACP-based programmes In 2004, 65% of United Kingdom farm production was farm assured, and by 2006, £6 billion worth of food was packed annually under the United Kingdom's Red Tractor farm assurance mark, including over 90% of the country's pig and dairy production. Some farm assurance schemes are given legal force, either by use of trademarks or by oversight by government regulators of agriculture and food standards. While mostly associated with food production, farm assurance can be applied to other agricultural products, such as
textiles Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...
,
flowers Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...
,
tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
and
biofuels Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels such as oil. Biofuel can be produced from plants or from agricultural, domestic ...
. In order to obtain farm product certification, assurance may be required for farm supplies. For example, the UK's Red Tractor scheme is supported by assurance programmes for
fodder Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food ...
(UFAS, FEMAS) and
fertiliser A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrition, plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from Liming (soil), liming materials or other non- ...
(FIAS).


Other quality standards

Other widely used agricultural quality standards are based entirely on product inspection, and do not rely on other aspects of quality assurance. One example of such a programme is the United States Quality Standards for grading, certification and verification: the USDA beef grades depend on physical attributes of the meat, plus the age of the animal.


See also

* * * * *


References


Further reading

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External links


UK Farm Assurance Factsheet
from the Institute of Grocery Distribution

from the United Kingdom government
Food certification and assurance schemes
– Food Standards Agency
Freedom Food
– UK scheme from RSPCA
Red Tractor Assured Food Standards
– umbrella programme for several major UK schemes
Inspection & Grading – What Are The Differences?
– Fact sheet from the United States federal Food Safety and Inspection Service * (125 papers presented at the 19th ASEAN/1st APEC Seminar on Postharvest Technology held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from 9 to 12 November 1999. PDF downloads.) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Farm Assurance