All growers are not created equal. At least, that was the mindset that Bayer and other agriculture giants had – until now.
While many farmers are capable of growing standard soybean crops, companies like Bayer often release specific seeds that can produce higher yields or healthier end-products. Those crops require more oversight on the part of a provider like Bayer – including site visits to watch the seeds get planted, for example – to ensure farmers are complying with the more stringent growing protocols. That’s why Bayer and others have to limit access to those specialty product.
But as with many other operations, emerging technology is changing that paradigm. On Wednesday, Bayer and software provider BlockApps opened up to the public a blockchain-based effort that was in production for the past several years to track those items from seed to sale.
For farmers, that means being able to get greater insight into the growing requirements for those premium seeds. For buyers. it means an enhanced ability to work with the producers earlier in the process to get the exact end-product they want – like healthier soybeans. And for companies like Bayer, it means the ability to track the initial seeds all the way to the eventual store shelf.
