Pasture-to-Plate, Blockchain and Beef - by Nate Smith

Pasture-to-Plate, Blockchain and Beef

by Nate Smith, General Manager

When we hear the word “technology” associated with the beef industry, most of our minds go to things like DNA testing, electronic identification (EID) and, most recently, genetic editing. Those are new technologies designed to help ensure the efficient production of a high-quality meat product. This is done for consumers that demand quality, yet are becoming more removed from where and how their food is being produced. While efficient food production has been the main focus for us, a growing segment of consumers want to know how that food is produced. One of the newest technologies can help answer the “how” question – blockchain.

After first hearing about blockchain technology two years ago, it seems to regularly come up as the next “big thing” in the beef business. While we discuss this technology at industry events, it still leaves many of us with questions like:

• What is blockchain and how could it affect my operation?

• Where is my compensation for doing my part in making it successful?

Anytime we can share knowledge on a new technology, it helps promote understanding and may help answer questions others have as well. So here is a brief explanation of what blockchain is and the basics of how it may work in the future. One of the simplest ways one industry partner explained blockchain to me is that it is a “digital ledger” managed by a non-biased third party. This digital ledger will track animals from their origin (cow-calf ranches) through to the consumer. Throughout this digital ledger, relevant product information is collected, entered and stored digitally on the same electronic platform as that animal makes its way through the supply chain to the consumer. This 10,000-foot view helps explain the premise

around blockchain as an information-sharing platform, but it leaves out what information is shared and who has access to it. The assumption is that producers at any level would add basic information such as origin, health programs, genetic information and marketing information to the digital ledger.

That usually brings forth two more questions: 1) Why record this data? 2) And, who has access to it?

To answer the first question, look at the last sentence of the previous paragraph. What do all those things have in common when marketing a product? They help determine value to other segments of the supply chain. With blockchain, this data is stored in a protected, but sharable way.

For the second question, the data is stored and managed by a third party that plays gatekeeper of all information. The gatekeeper will protect all submitted information and allow access to the producer who supplied it, as well as to those further down the supply chain who are approved to access it. That may include a customer in a grocery store willing to pay more to know where that steak came from, or in the other direction, a cow-calf producer requesting carcass results from a packer.

There’s a lot of information to take in and digest when it comes to blockchain. One of the main points is that the data, whether regarding health, performance or genetics, is now one of the main contributors to a beef product’s value in the supply chain. As we move into the future, we will see more tools like blockchain develop to assist in capturing the value of the practices most producers already do. They just had no way of standardizing and leveraging it to all members of the supply chain. If you want to learn more, study how blockchain is being used in the vegetable industry.

Hopefully, this article has helped shine some light on blockchain in the beef industry and how it may look going forward. The industry is making advancements quicker than ever before. Many of the technologies we have already adopted have allowed us to do what we are passionate about more effectively and efficiently, while being stewards of this great land and feeding the world. •