Page 63 - September October 2018 Disruption Report Flip Book

FARM CREDIT SYSTEM / FARMER MAC SEJPATN.U-AORCYT.20210818
Bringing Food Trust mainstream via IBM’s blockchain
IBM announced the availability of its Food Trust, a transparent register of data on a blockchain platform, showing how food is transferred from vendor to vendor. In August 2017, IBM announced the creation of Food Trust, with support from WalMart, Dole, Nestle and Kroger and other food companies. Other suppliers, including BeefChain, Dennick, Smithfield, Topco Associations, and food storage and transport companies, such as 3M and Emerson, are participating in the Food Trust. Sensors track the food products and collect data automatically, as it travels through the supply chain, and data is recorded to the blockchain.
Following 18 months of testing, the Food Trust is now available for public use. As more participants in the food supply chain participate in Food Trust, the public will enjoy increased transparency into the origin of food they eat and food recalls will be expedited. (NASDAQ.com, Christopher Tozzi, 10/18/18)
Farm credit institutions are helping farms go “off the grid”
With the cost of distributed solar falling and favorable government subsidies supporting the growth of renewable energy increasing, more farms are adopting on-farm solar generation. In the white paper, Loa Defection Among Agriculture Producers, CoBank’s economist Taylor Gunn concluded:
With the cost of distributed solar falling and favorable government subsidies supporting the growth of renewable energy increasing, more farms are adopting on-farm solar generation. In the white paper, Loa Defection Among Agriculture Producers, CoBank’s economist Taylor Gunn concluded:
Poultry, dairy and swine producers typically are the biggest annual electricity users in agriculture, averaging $12,000-$30,000/year in electricity costs, and are the most likely to adopt on-farm solar generation.
The installation cost for a 40-kilowatt on-farm solar facility is around $2.80 per Watt. This is not competitive with retail electricity rates, but the ability to take advantage of federal tax credits, and state incentives, drives the adoption of distributed solar among ag producers.
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