Red tractors
They are everywhere
Welfare is their thing
Farmers choose this special sign
Hoping it will bring
Business to the balance sheet
Profit and some more
Customers believe they see
Love and they are sure
The animals are treated right
Kept clean well fed and they
Are given fresh air and water
Every single day
The young are always welcome
Gestation crates oh no
Red tractor is the trademark
A lovely sign to show
But there’s a lack of confidence
It’s spreading near and far
Stories about what some find
And, sadly they are
Horrific really rotten
Frighteningly so
Pigs are being kept in muck
And those that do not grow
Get bashed about
Its very sad
Red tractor why do you
Neglect the farms you deal
With
This I have heard is true
Not enough inspectors
Perhaps their visits
Are
not spot checked enough it seems
That is how you do
Catch the rogues who torture
Who leave the animals sad
Just go on the off chance
Just see then how bad
Welfare is important
Everywhere we go
And keeping pigs in shitty pens
I just need you to know
Is bloody wrong and you ought do something about it And make red tractor really means something
Rex Tyler is a Poet, Campaigner, former owner of an organic shop of 30 years, and Public Speaker living in Berkhamsted, UK.