Blockchain basics | Farmtario

Glacier FarmMedia – The word “blockchain” may more readily conjure the image of cryptocurrency than of oats and pulses, but experts say blockchain’s future in food transparency and other ag application is a given.

“I think we’re going to see some form of blockchain or digital ledger underpin food systems in the future,” said Chris Bunio, co-founder and CEO of Winnipeg-based start-up TheoryMesh.

Why it matters: Blockchain offers seamless sharing of data and can help build transparency in the food supply chain. 

Avena Foods Ltd., a specialty miller of gluten-free pulses and oat ingredients with sites in Regina and Rowatt, Sask. and Portage la Prairie, Man. is one of TheoryMesh’s first clients.

The company touts its oats as “uncontaminated for people with celiac disease and gluten sensitivity,” and pulses as “sustainably grown and milled.”

From the farm until the products leave Avena’s facilities, they’re creating and surrounded by data. However, a lot of that information is in isolated spreadsheets or on paper, said Bunio.

TheoryMesh will digitize all data so it can be shared throughout the company via blockchain.

“Blockchain is a mechanism for creating a distributed ledger,” wrote Wesley Crook in a February 2020 Forbes magazine article.

“Distributed in this sense means that multiple parties can participate, view and audit the data contained within this ledger.”

Experts interviewed by Glacier Farmmedia used an analogy to explain this digital tool.

It’s like “a shared Excel spreadsheet, which all players inside the value chain have access to,” said Jamie Denbow, director of business development at ag-tech firm Farmers’ Edge.

Each member has its own tab on the metaphorical spreadsheet and can input data.

Unlike a spreadsheet, the data in each cell can’t be altered. Once entered, it becomes part of the blockchain, visible to all members.

This provides assurance to the chain’s members that “what the data is, is what the data is,” Denbow said.

It can also prevent data leaks, he added. A spreadsheet can be downloaded and shared. Members of a blockchain can view it and enter data through a shared portal but can’t export the data.

For now, Avena’s blockchain will begin when it receives grain from a producer.

“We are capturing the details on their contracts and their receipt of goods,” said Bunio. “There is some information coming from the farm and it will be extended over time.”

But if a processor desired, it could start its blockchain even earlier.

In 2019, the Canadian Seed Growers Association (CSGA) ran a pilot program alongside Ontario tech firm Grain Discovery using blockchain to trace the soybean seed variety OAC Kent from development, to seed certification, to the farm and the elevator until it reached Ying Soy Food Ltd., in Toronto, which made the soybeans into tofu.

The pilot worked and the technology worked, said Doug Miller, CSGA’s executive director. However, like Avena, CSGA was still dealing with records that didn’t play nice with the new technology.

“We still had paper certificates at the end of our processes that didn’t really work in a digital world,” Miller said.

CSGA recently finished digitizing its records and processes and has developed infrastructure so its members can connect to blockchain when that opportunity arises.

“You let us know, and then we connect our infrastructure to it,” he said. “The seed growers don’t have to go out and develop their own blockchains or host their own nodes.”

At the other end, blockchain could stretch all the way to the consumer, who could use a QR code on packaging to access information about where the food came from and how it was produced.

Why blockchain?

Avena Foods didn’t respond to interview requests but a Sept. 10 joint news release with TheoryMesh said it will use blockchain technology to “digitize food safety and traceability processes.”

“Their solutions… will streamline our data handling,” said Sneha Nathani, vice-president of food safety and quality assurance at Avena. “The TheoryMesh solution will reduce time in every step of our processes and will significantly improve our systems.”

The basic application is increased efficiency and security in sharing information, which is increasingly important as consumers demand greater transparency.

One benefit may be what Miller called “social licence,” which is public acceptance of a company or producers’ practices.

“Farmers are increasingly under, like, kind of a microscope, but the thing is at the end of the day we do really good stuff here in Canada,” Miller said. “This represents an opportunity for Canadian producers to be able to tell our story in a curated way that kind of resonates with consumers.”

Blockchain can also increase efficiency and mitigate risk at the processor level, Miller added.

Rather than checking tags and paper documentation to prove the processor received the precise type of soybean it needed, for example, the information can instead arrive digitally.

Data in the blockchain can be used to quickly track affected products in case of a recall. 

In 2018, after an E. coli outbreak in romaine lettuce made more than 200 people sick in the United States, Walmart told suppliers they’d have to use its blockchain platform to trace their products, NBC reported.

Walmart said this would allow suppliers to trace products in seconds rather than days.

“Blockchain is developing right now in agriculture,” said Denbow. “Blockchain will become prevalent in agriculture. And why am I confident in saying this? Well, all major banks are using blockchain right now. If you look at all the major health-care chains in the U.S., they’re all using blockchain. And why? Because it’s proven effective.”

Denbow said the market may divide into two streams — ordinary food products, and food products containing specific label traits like organic, GMO-free or sustainable.

On the farm

Avena’s blockchain doesn’t yet extend to the farm, but Bunio said it will. TheoryMesh has mobile and web apps to capture data and is working on systems to automatically bring in Excel documents and handwritten forms.

Farm-level data and proof of practice are in greater demand now. For instance, General Mills contracts glyphosate-free grains. Companies like Nutrien have recently rolled out pilots to pay farmers for storing or reducing carbon through practices like zero till and nitrogen management.

In the future, producers may be able to share data, via blockchain, from their equipment and farm-management software to show when and where they applied chemicals.

It could also validate a farmer’s claim of zero-till or chem-free.

“I feel that blockchain is actually going to bring value into our supply chain, allowing growers to actually be able to take advantage of higher-value opportunities,” said Denbow.

However, farmers may find that digital paperwork is still paperwork and it may provide more accountability than they want.

“I never saw a benefit for farmers… unless of course they’re compensated or they’re rewarded (for participating),” said Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University.

A company might say blockchain participation is about love, trust and co-operation, he said, but that doesn’t put more money in farmers’ pockets. They should ask, “what’s in it for us?” Charlebois added.

Security

Farmers should also be concerned about data safety, said Bunio.

“The basic questions every farmer should feel comfortable with asking are: What is the purpose of data capture? How is the data being used? And how will it provide them with a benefit?” he said.

Denbow added that not all data known to each “link” of the chain is shared with the rest of the chain. 

“Only the data that is critical to the final product is shared forward through the chain.”

Farms also need to have the bandwidth and technology to connect and share data. The percentage of growers with full digital connectivity and data collection on their farm now is maybe 15 per cent, said Denbow.

“Right there, that’s the first step. You need that fully digitized, accessible dataset so that you can share it with members of the chain,” he said.

Keith Currie, vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, agreed.

“What’s going to be holding us back is broadband access or 5G… that ability to connect, to upload that data is going to be key.” 

Rural connectivity is getting better, Currie said, but governments must be pushed to expand it.

Policy must also protect farmers, he added. Big companies may eventually pressure producers to share data so policy should ensure blockchain is administered in a way that’s fair for all.

“At the end of the day the farmers always lose in these battles, so how it’s implemented is important,” Currie said.

Geralyn Wichers is a reporter for the Manitoba Co-operator. Her article appeared in the Oct. 21, 2021 issue.