The founder Breedr, a company set up to help farmers trade livestock smarter and finance faster, by enabling the value-chain to buy and sell animals based on data rather than how they look, Ian Wheal, will be discussing the benefits of data-led trading during the Integrating Supply Chains seminar, alongside Dr Stefano Vandoni of science-driven nutrition company Belcham and Ryan Law of meat processors Dunbia, at NBA Beef Expo, taking place at Milnthorpe, Cumbria, on May 23, 2019.
Traditionally, the way that animals are sold to processors is fragmented – some farmers sell to finishers, others through agents, at market or direct – so it’s difficult for processors to see what’s becoming available and for kill sheets and customer insights to be fed back to producers.
“It’s all about linking up the supply chain, to get more value for the farmer and more consistency for the processor and retailer,” Mr Wheal said. “Transparency and traceability are being demanded by customers, and farmers already collect a lot of data for regulatory purposes. Our aim with Breedr is to make data into actionable insights for the benefit of everyone in the value-chain.
“At the moment, processors issue a kill sheet, showing the weight and carcase information, that’s often supplied as a sheet of paper or pdf. To use this data, farmers need to retype it into their system. If this data was more accessible and informative, it could be used to improve meat production.
“A data-led supply chain allows visibility of animals in the pipeline, which is why processors are interested. Rather than buying animals based on weight, as they currently do, they are able to select the ones that will be within their specification and know when they’ll be available.”
To enable this, Breedr is leading an Innovate UK project to create smart contracts for the livestock industry by using blockchain to assure the lifetime data of an animal. Blockchain is a method of securely sharing data and making sure it can’t be edited. Copies of the data are stored across hundreds of thousands of computers that are used to authenticate the information and prevent it from being tampered with. The data is encrypted and can only be read within Breedr, using a secure login.
Breedr is working with Imperial College London to develop the software; with Deloitte to address the legalities; and with Dunbia to gain input from the processor perspective. A number of farmers from across the UK are also involved to ensure the system works well for farmers.
For more information visit: www.breedr.co.
