Duplication of assurance reports was highlighted at an NFUS and SQC meeting.

At a discussion between Union members and Scottish Quality Cereals at the Turriff show, local members raised concerns about duplication within the scheme. The meeting, chaired by arable farmer Kevin Gilbert, praised SQC for conducting 92% of assessments before harvest, making it easier for farmers to get their assessments done when they were not so busy.

Issues were raised by North East Combinable Crops chairs Russell Rennie and Scott Campbell over the level of duplication in the SQC scheme, questioning why some standards even exist.

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Scott Campbell said: “For example, why do growers have to show assessors that soil is being regularly tested when farmers have been doing this for decades, and SEPA also asks for this during an inspection? It is also clashing with the government’s PSF current grants and the new cross-compliance rules.”

Members were also concerned that assessors were asking for combine servicing invoices to check that the combine was ready for harvest. Further concerns were raised over grain self-billing invoices being examined to add up total tonnages. This led to a discussion on how and why the mass balance grain calculation works and why it is required for all crops.

It was noted that some assessors were merely glancing over the farmer’s shoulder and ticking the box, while others required full calculations for each crop, adding time and stress for the farmer. Concerns were also raised about the training of assessors and the need for more consistency.

Teresa Dougall, managing director of Scottish Quality Cereals said: “SQC was delighted to have been invited to join NFUS members at Turriff Show for a discussion on the SQC scheme. We need more opportunities such as this to hear from SQC growers and to be able to respond to queries they may have open discussions

“There were many topics discussed during the one hour meeting and I fully take on board the frustrations of farmers regarding the need to provide duplicate information to numerous agencies, assurance schemes and official bodies. This is an area SQC has been focusing on as a priority, and there are many discussions taking place at the moment to try to reduce this in the future through scheme equivalence measures and sharing of data across the industry when required. SQC remains fully onboard and committed to reducing duplication where we can.

“I also appreciate concern around the requirement of some Standards. SQC works hard to ensure growers have access to as wide a market as possible, which means incorporating standards that meet a broad range of market requirements. This can sometimes mean providing additional information, such as Mass Balance Sheets which, for example, allows growers access to the European biofuel market.

"We are currently undertaking an informal consultation across the industry and with SQC growers on our Standards Setting process. We look forward to hearing members views on this, and this may also allow us to provide better guidance on why specific Standards are required.

“I listened to NFUS members concerns around information being asked for during assessments and can only stress once again that should SQC members have concerns over what is being asked for, or feel that are inconsistencies in the approach being taken during an assessment, that they contact SQC or our certification body, FIA, with full details which will allow us to investigate the query further.”