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Source: research and extension of the Kansas State University
What do producers of pork and beef, food companies and bankers have in common? Some of them are exploring how a relatively new way of storing data, called blockchain, can help their companies and industries.
"Blockchain is actually just a database," says Andy Brudtkuhl, director of emerging technology with the National Pork Board. He recently spoke to the participants in a seminar sponsored by the Kansas State University, Kansas Department of Agriculture and Kansas Farm Bureau's Master of Agribusiness program.
Brudtkuhl is studying the impacts and implications of technology applied to the food supply chain and, in particular, how it can benefit pork producers.
Blockchain is a list of digital records, called blocks connected by encryption. Each block contains a string of numbers and letters produced by a mathematical function – called a cryptographic hash – related to the previous block, a timestamp and transaction data. By design, it is difficult to change. Once registered, data in a given block can not be changed retroactively without changing the subsequent blocks.
The Blockchain technology was invented in 2008 by an unknown person who used the name Satoshi Nakamoto to act as a public register of bitcoin cryptocurrency transactions, but since then other industries have explored its use.
The blockchain chain works by referring to the hash of the previous block, says Brudtkuhl. There is a certain amount of confidence built because everyone involved has a copy, and the system is designed in such a way that if someone removed a block, it would be easily discovered.
Currently, supply chains are largely dependent on trust, he says, noting that blockchain technology could increase transparency, prevent records from being changed (immutable), increase traceability and improve efficiency.
"Blockchain does not solve the problem, but it only helps the problem," he says, noting that Walmart uses blockchain technology to track the leafy greens it buys.
In a letter To its suppliers of green leafy vegetables, in September, Walmart said that to increase food traceability and transparency and create shared value for the entire green leafy green, it launched a new Walmart based food tracking initiative. on blockchain. The move, the letter says, means "all green leafy vegetable suppliers should be able to track their products on farms (depending on the production lot) in seconds, not days".
Brudtkuhl states that when Walmart creates rules for other food suppliers, pork producers want to get involved in the discussion.
For traceability from pork to pork chop, the biggest challenge is when pigs go to the processing facility, he says, noting that in the end, DNA testing could be used.
BeefChain
"At this time, a consumer has no idea what the steps were (a meat product) and a producer has no idea where their product ends," says Tyler Lindholm, head of breeding activities with BeefChain, a new "centrica da ranch" supply chain that uses blockchain technology. Lindholm is a Wyoming breeder and president of the Wyoming Blockchain Task Force. He is also a representative of the state of Wyoming.
He said he believes that the movement towards the use of this technology should be led by the producer rather than government-led, and that Walmart's move with its suppliers of green-leaved vegetables indicates that it will probably move in that direction. also for its meat suppliers.
These movements will have a cost, Lindholm added, but higher premiums to allow identification of a single animal and ensure traceability of origin allow farmers to receive premium prices for their beef and provides consumers with greater confidence in the meat they consume.
Food companies and bankers
Rachel Gabato, head of products and programs at New York and San Francisco, Ripe.io, says some companies are using sensors that capture data along the food supply chain, adding more layers of information, starting with 39; farmer and to the end through harvesting, transportation, processing and retailing. In this way, it is possible to learn how temperature, for example, affects a product.
If tomatoes go wrong between a farmer's field and a retail store, this emerging technology could make it easier to see, for example, where the temperature inside a truck was lower than the optimal one.
"This is a relatively new technology for the (food) industry," says Gabato, and can help solve problems and lead to fewer fingers.
"We have received many requests from our customers on the blockchain," says Tanner Ehmke, manager of CoBank's Knowledge Exchange, adding that CoBank is studying the new technology and how it could use it and its customers. CoBank is a lender of agricultural, energy, water and communication companies.
"New technologies continue to offer a more reliable, efficient and secure food system," says Allen Featherstone, head of the Kansas State University Department of Agricultural Economics. "The goal of the seminar was to help demystify blockchain technology.These goals have been achieved.We plan to provide another workshop on an emerging problem in the agricultural and food sector during the autumn of 2019."
