AIC at 20: Pioneering Feed Adviser Register benefits farms and environment
As AIC marks 20 years as the UK agri-supply industry’s leading trade association, we're looking back at some of its greatest achievements since it was founded in 2003.
Each week throughout 2023, we’ll explore a major achievement where AIC represented its Member businesses, promoted the benefits of modern commercial agriculture in the UK, and supported collaboration throughout the food chain.
This week we’re revisiting the pioneering Feed Adviser Register (FAR) to look at the benefits it brought to farms and the environment when it was introduced a decade ago.
Driving up standards
Creating recognition of professional standards in UK feed advice, AIC developed and launched the FAR in collaboration with the feed sector in 2013.
The Register recognises standards of professionalism within the livestock feed supply sector, making it an asset for farming systems and environmental protection.
FAR was the sector’s response to the Government’s commitment, and industry and customer demands, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from farmed livestock.
10 years ago it was pioneering in introducing the concept of core competences for feed advisers, aiding the industry’s collective drive to cut emissions in the UK livestock sector by contributing to the Industry Greenhouse Gas Action Plan (GHGAP).
Under the Climate Change Act 2008 (2050 Target Amendment), the UK Government is legally required to achieve net zero carbon emissions across the UK economy by 2050, and the agriculture sector plays a key part in this.
The Government has looked to the industry to make this happen, rather than imposing legislation.
More recently pressure has come from the marketplace for the feed sector to deliver on wider sustainability criteria, sustainable sourcing, food security, and other issues, such as the link between livestock production and achieving water quality targets for phosphorus.
The FAR training modules have evolved to cater for these evolving needs.
Learn more about the FAR by watching the video below, and by visiting the FAR webpage.
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Visit the AIC at 20 webpage for more content like this.
Authors
Oli Hill
As Head of Communications, Oli creates and oversees the content published on AIC's website, emails, Member briefings, print publications, and social media. A qualified multimedia journalist, he previously spent six years working at Farmers Weekly magazine as a Senior Reporter on the arable team, and latterly as Community Editor. More recently he was Communications Manager at Red Tractor.
Sue Whittington
Sue is a Technical Manager for AIC Services. She is responsible for the Feed Adviser Register (FAR), the AIC Sustainability Programme and responsible sourcing and the Potato Cyst Nematode (PCN) Laboratory Proficiency Testing Programme.
