Feed and Nutrition Suppliers

How do I choose a feed supplier?

Start with what your assurance scheme demands, because that narrows the field before price or advice comes into it. On a Red Tractor beef and lamb farm, the feed standard asks for compounds to be UFAS assured, or equivalent. After that, I would check four things in order.

• The certificate: ask for the current UFAS certificate covering the site that makes or stores your feed, not a logo on a website.
• The ration: ask who formulates it, and whether the ingredient list will be given to you in writing.
• The paperwork: ask what the delivery ticket will show, and whether tickets and invoices can come by email.
• Medicated feed: ask whether they deal with vet prescriptions and how they confirm them.

The usual trap is buying on price per tonne alone. A cheaper feed that arrives without a batch number or composition costs you a non-conformance later. Put the same questions to each business listed above. Your vet, found through the farm animal vets directory, can check a ration against your stock.

Does my feed have to be UFAS assured?

On Red Tractor beef and lamb farms, mostly yes, but the rule changes with the type of feed. In the Red Tractor feed and water standard (clause FW.5), bought-in feed must come from an assured source, broken down like this:

• Compounds and blends: UFAS assured, or equivalent.
• Bagged or sealed compounds, minerals, licks and milk replacers: from a UFAS merchant, or from a non-UFAS merchant if the compounder is UFAS or equivalent.
• Straights and co-products: UFAS, FEMAS or equivalent.
• Surplus feed from another farm, hay or silage from forage merchants, and graded and washed roots, fruit or vegetables: a warranty declaration.

UFAS is the Agricultural Industries Confederation scheme, certified by Kiwa, and covers feed manufacturers, merchants and transporters. Ask the supplier for their certificate and keep a copy. Standards are revised, so check the current version, and read your own scheme's feed section if you are not on Red Tractor.

What do I keep when feed is delivered?

The delivery ticket is the only place the batch number sits, so it is the record to protect. Red Tractor clause FW.6 asks for the supplier name, feed type with ingredient composition, delivery date, quantity and load or batch number, kept for two years. File it on the day.

Photograph bagged feed labels. Under the retained feed labelling rules, a compound feed label must give the species it is for, a best-before or use-before date and its composition by weight. If percentages are not shown, the labeller must give you figures within plus or minus 15% on request (Article 17 of Regulation 767/2009).

If you mix feed on the farm, the standard also wants a record of each batch or total mixed ration, and samples kept for at least four weeks after last use when the formulation changes. The audit side is covered in our Red Tractor audit checklist.

What are the rules on medicated feed?

Under GOV.UK guidance on medicated feedingstuffs, feed containing a POM-V premix can only be supplied to the keeper on a written prescription from a vet. It is normally valid for three months, but for antibiotic feed the course must start within five working days of issue. A prescription covers one course only.

The keeper has duties too. You must observe the withdrawal period, store the feed properly, avoid cross-contamination and feed it only to the animals it was prescribed for. Making medicated feed on the farm needs authorisation, so ask your local Trading Standards office or the VMD first.

Record it like any other treatment in the medicine book, and work out end dates with our withdrawal periods guide. The wider rules are in the Veterinary Medicines Regulations guide. This is not veterinary advice, so ask your own vet about a specific case.

How does VAT work on animal feed?

Most feed for farm animals is zero-rated. HMRC's animals and animal food notice (701/15) zero-rates straights, compound feeds, protein concentrates and supplements. The exceptions to watch are probiotics, which are always standard-rated, ingredients with no real nutritive value such as flavourings and binders, and medicines, which the zero rate does not cover even when given in feed.

That is why a feed invoice can carry a standard-rated line beside zero-rated ones. Check the VAT column when you file it, and keep the invoice with the delivery ticket.

Zero-rated sales still count towards the farm VAT registration threshold, and on the agricultural flat rate scheme you do not reclaim input VAT. The records HMRC expects are in our farm bookkeeping guide. Ask your accountant about borderline products.

Sources

• Red Tractor: feed and water standards (beef and lamb)
• GOV.UK: Manufacture and supply of medicated feedingstuffs
• GOV.UK: Animals and animal food (VAT Notice 701/15)
• GOV.UK: Register an animal feed business
• legislation.gov.uk: Regulation (EC) 767/2009, Article 17 (compound feed labelling)
• Kiwa: UFAS certification