The AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds Sector Council is to fund a research project designed to help inform future discussions over domestic farm assurance and standards for imported combinable crops.
It is a long running bone of contention among some farmers who perceive that imported crops are not produced to the same standards demanded by UK assurance schemes and so undercut home-grown produce.
The project is a response to a recommendation in the Farm Assurance Review, sponsored by the AHDB and farming unions, that reported in January this year. One of the report’s nine key recommendations was that “Farm assurance schemes must better position the UK farming industry in world food markets and in competition with imported food”. The review authors called on the AHDB to consult with the grain sector to consider a new approach for combinable crops and assess the standards for imported food.
The research project will involve AHDB analysts reviewing the existing standards for imported grain as well as the legislative requirements involved, with supporting insight from the wider industry. The board says this work will help inform the industry and government on how assurance currently works domestically and on imports. It will also identify opportunities to further support the sector.
The board expects to publish the results of its research in four phases between January 2026 and October 2026. The four phases are firstly, to identify the differences between Farm Assurance systems in the UK, their associated standards and government legislation. Next, to review the legislative requirements for domestic and imported grain.
Thirdly, to explore how farm assurance facilitates and delivers legislative and contract requirements for the supply chain, as well as looking at how standards differ for imports to the UK. Then finally, the project will assess how the UK could meet legislative and contractual requirements if farm assurance was adapted or did not exist.
“This project demonstrates AHDB’s commitment to ensuring there is a meaningful and insightful research paper into farm assurance to the benefit of cereals and oilseeds growers and the wider supply chain,” says AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds Sector Council chair Tom Clarke.
“The sector council is fully committed to providing levy payers with the best possible understanding of how assurance in the cereals and oilseeds sector currently works and the potential for making improvements that benefit our industry.”