The assessment is booked, the medicine records are on your phone, and you want to know whether the app will pass. Most farmers asking that question are really asking which app Red Tractor approves. The answer is none of them, which makes the job simpler than it sounds.
In short: Red Tractor doesn't approve or name any app. Its standards accept medicine records "paper and/or electronic", so an app passes when it holds every field the standard lists, keeps them for five years and can show or print them for the assessor. Agrianta records those fields as you treat: one entry at the crush fills in the medicine book, works out the withdrawal and clear date for each animal, takes the dose off your stock and prints when the assessor asks.
Does Red Tractor Approve Any Apps?
No. The Beef and Lamb standard (B.AM.6) and the Dairy standard (DR.AM.6) both say: "Records must be kept of all administered veterinary medicines (paper and/or electronic)."
The guidance under the standard goes further: the required information "does not need to be in a single location (e.g. a medicine book)." So the assessor isn't checking which app you use. They're checking that every treatment is there, complete, and traceable to the animals that had it.
What Each Treatment Record Must Show
For beef and lamb, standard B.AM.6.a lists eleven details for every medicine you give:
- the medicine (its identity)
- the date it was given
- the quantity given
- the meat withdrawal period
- which animal or group was treated
- the batch number
- how many animals were treated
- the date treatment finished
- the date the animal is fit for human consumption
- the name of the person who gave it
- the reason for treatment
The dairy standard, DR.AM.6.a, asks for the same list with two changes: the withdrawal period covers milk as well as meat, and you record the date the animal or its milk becomes fit for human consumption.
Purchase and Disposal Records
The treatment record is only half of it. Standard B.AM.5.a asks for a purchase record of every medicine you buy:
- the medicine and quantity
- the date of purchase
- the supplier's name and address
- expiry dates and batch numbers
Medicated feeding stuff prescriptions (MFSPs) are kept too. When you dispose of a medicine, B.AM.7.c asks you to record the medicine, batch number, quantity, date and route of disposal, and the disposal itself goes through your supplier, a registered waste contractor or the local authority.
Purchases and treatments need to tell the same story. If more of a product came in than your treatment and disposal records account for, that gap is what an assessor will ask about.
How Long to Keep Them
Red Tractor asks for medicine administration records, purchase records and MFSPs to be kept for five years (B.AM.5.b, B.AM.5.c and B.AM.6.b), which matches the government's record-keeping rules for veterinary medicines given to food-producing animals.
Collating your total antibiotic use each year and uploading it to AHDB's Medicine Hub is a recommendation in the current standards (B.AM.8.1), not a requirement for certification.
What to Check Before You Pick an App
Run any app through these six questions before you rely on it for an assessment:
- Does every field above have a place? Batch number, reason for treatment and who gave it are the easy ones for a quick-entry screen to leave out.
- Does it work out the clear date for you? Not the withdrawal period printed on the box, but the date this animal, treated on this day, is fit for slaughter, or its milk fit to sell.
- Do purchases link to treatments by batch? That is what lets stock in and doses out reconcile.
- Can it print or export the whole assessment period? Some assessors still want paper in front of them.
- Will five years of records stay available, including animals that have since left the holding?
- Does it work without signal? The treatment gets recorded at the crush or it gets recorded from memory that evening.
If an app can't answer yes to the first four, it will cost you time on assessment day.
How Agrianta Records It
You record a treatment once: pick the animals, choose the medicine and batch, and enter the dose. Agrianta then:
- adds the date, product, batch number, quantity, who gave it and the reason to the medicine book
- works out the meat and milk withdrawal and the clear date for each animal, and counts it down
- gives each animal its own entry, so the number treated is counted for you
- takes the dose off the right stock batch, which carries its supplier and expiry date
- lets you log a disposal against the batch, so purchases, treatments and disposals reconcile
For a course over several days, record each dose as it is given and the last entry shows when treatment finished. The medicine book exports as a PDF or CSV for the assessor, and it works offline and syncs when you are back in signal. See how the medicine book and stock work together, or how compliance records fit around it.
Prefer paper for now? Our free medicine record template has columns for most of these; if you're Red Tractor assured, note the reason for treatment and the date the course finished alongside each entry. Our inspection checklist covers what else gets looked at on the day.
The Standards Are Being Reviewed
In June 2026 Red Tractor's Beef and Lamb sector board approved proposed changes to the standards after a line-by-line review, and said a consultation will open later in the year. It is also looking at a more proportionate approach, "allowing assessments to be more targeted on key areas such as animal welfare and medicines".
No new version or start date has been published yet. Everything on this page is from the current standards (Version 5.0, modified), and we'll update it when new ones come out.
Common questions
Which app should I use to keep medicine records that pass a Red Tractor inspection?
Any app that records every field in standard B.AM.6.a (or DR.AM.6.a for dairy), keeps records for five years and can print them, because Red Tractor doesn't approve particular apps. Agrianta records each treatment field as you treat, works out the clear date for every animal, links doses to stock batches and exports the medicine book as a PDF or CSV.
Will an assessor accept medicine records on my phone?
Yes. The standards accept records "paper and/or electronic". Some assessors still prefer to see a printout, so make sure your app can print the whole period being assessed before the visit.
Do I still need a paper medicine book if I use an app?
No. Red Tractor's guidance says the required information doesn't need to be in a single location such as a medicine book. What matters is that every treatment and purchase is recorded and can be produced.
How long do I keep medicine records for Red Tractor?
Five years, for medicine administration records, purchase records and medicated feeding stuff prescriptions.
Do I have to record the reason for treatment?
Yes. The reason for treatment is one of the details listed in standard B.AM.6.a, along with the name of the person who gave the medicine.
Do I have to collate my antibiotic use?
Not for certification under the current standards. Red Tractor recommends collating your total annual antibiotic use and uploading it to AHDB's Medicine Hub.
Is Agrianta approved by Red Tractor?
Red Tractor doesn't approve any app, Agrianta included. Agrianta records the details its standards list, keeps them for as long as you need and prints them for the assessor.
Sources
- Animal Medicines, Beef and Lamb (Version 5.0, modified), Red Tractor
- Animal Medicines, Dairy (Version 5.0, modified), Red Tractor
- Beef and Lamb Standards Manual, February 2025, Red Tractor
- Beef and Lamb Sector Board Update, June 2026, Red Tractor
- Record keeping requirements for veterinary medicines, Veterinary Medicines Directorate
- Medicine Hub, AHDB
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