AHDB Farm Data Exchange given the green light

AHDB’s Farm Data Exchange has passed its first industry test and moved a step closer to becoming a viable product for sharing data between the agricultural supply chain.

Farm businesses involved with an industry pilot have spoken out in support of the project, calling it a timesaving measure that reduced duplication of paperwork on farm.

An initial pilot focused on challenges linked to reporting environmental data across 18 beef and dairy farms.

See also: AHDB pilots Farm Data Exchange for beef and dairy sector

It found that the Farm Data Exchange could effectively take on farm data, including cattle movements, processor figures and feed information from existing databases and share it with authorised parties such as banks, farm assurance schemes, government and retailers, without the need for farmers to re-enter the same data several times.

The AHDB says that proof-of-concept pilot demonstrated that a national, farmer-first data exchange system would be both technically viable and supported by industry.

A wider industry survey of 450 farmers found “clear demand” for the Farm Data Exchange to progress.

Survey responses highlighted the importance of a secure platform that protects data while also reducing administrative burdens across the supply chain.

Dorset-based organic dairy farmer Sophie Gregory, who was involved in the pilot, said: “The Farm Data Exchange was really user-friendly, and I could instantly see how having everything in one place would save me a huge amount of time.

“As farmers, time is the thing we’re most short of, and having a secure system where we can stay in control of our data is exactly what we need.”

A commercial business plan is now being developed by the AHDB to determine the next steps for rolling out the project.

However, the funding model to support a larger scale rollout is yet to be publicly confirmed.

Adam Short, associate director for data programmes at AHDB, said: “Data is becoming central to modern agriculture, and without a co-ordinated system, farmers risk losing control over the value of their own data.

“We’ve successfully demonstrated our ability to source primary farm data from existing databases and put farmers in full control of how their data is shared across the industry.”