Farm assurance in Scotland
The term farm assurance was first used in Scotland in the late 1980s to describe new certification schemes established by farmers, meat processors, consumers and supporting agencies, in response to emerging consumer concerns about food production. These schemes introduced independent, on-farm auditing of animal welfare, environmental care and staff competence.
Organisations involved included the National [Farmers Union of Scotland], Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers, the Scottish Consumer Council, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Development Board, the Meat and Livestock Commission and the Scottish Agricultural College.
The first farm assurance scheme was the Scottish Pig Industry Initiative, established in 1990, followed by Farm Assured Scotch Lamb and Scottish Quality Cereals. Food produced through these schemes carry Scotch and Scottish branding. Other farming sectors in Scotland quickly followed. Scottish farmed salmon producers established similar assurance schemes during the same period, followed by farmed trout. Farmers in England established their own farm assurance schemes in the second half of the 1990s, these eventually being encompassed within Assured Food Standards which operates the "Red Tractor" mark. The rest of Europe took up farm assurance in the late 1990s with many other parts of the world adopting farm assurance in the early 2000s.
The individuals who established farm assurance in Scotland included Maitland Mackie, Jim Royan, John Ross, John MacNaughton, Alistair Donaldson, Brian Simpson, Ian Duncan Miller, Alan Stevenson, David Jack, David Taylor, George Russell and Peter Brown.