NFU Scotland withdraws support for digital grain passports
© Tim Scrivener NFU Scotland (NFUS) has withdrawn its support for the development of digital grain passports by the AHDB due to fears about the cost and potential complexity.
The union has informed the AHDB cereal liaison group of its decision following a combinable crops committee consultation.
Digital grain passports are still in the design phase with implementation due to take place in 2023.
See also: Digital grain passports set to launch in 2023
They are intended to replace paper passports, providing a two-way data flow for all combinable crop supply chains across the UK, including returning weight and quality data back to growers.
A prototype system has been developed and a demonstration was given to the committee for feedback.
NFUS has recommended that the project does not proceed to the build phase.
Combinable crops committee chairman Willie Thomson said: “While many committee members could see some potential advantages of digital grain passports, there was a concern over value for money, future cost increases, and extension of their scope.
“There was an overall feeling that digitising the passports would make something simple more complex and less accessible, at an unreasonably high cost.”
Wider Consultation
The AHDB ran a series of webinars during October to gain feedback from the wider industry on digital grain passports.
Head of farm economics at AHDB, Derek Carless, said the webinars gave participants the opportunity to learn about how the digital grain passports will work and provided a demonstration of the proposed system.
“Attendees also had the opportunity to ask any questions or give feedback on the prototype. The webinars were open to everyone who is involved in grain supply chains, and about 550 people participated across the four sessions,” said Mr Carless.
NFU combinable crops board representative James Mills said: “There are issues still to be resolved, including concerns raised by growers that some of the proposals discussed during the seminar differ from the previous pilot and the way the paper passport works.”
Next stages
A meeting is taking place today (Thursday 17 November) for the ADHB cereals liaison group to decide whether to progress with its proposal.
A final decision on the future of digital grain passports is expected to be made on Tuesday 6 December by the AHDB cereals and oilseeds sector council.