Farmer asks ‘am I wrong?’ to be suspicious of data sharing

A Buckinghamshire beef and arable farmer is urging other farmers to think carefully before sharing their sensitive data in surveys in case it is used against them in future.

Richard Heady, who farms near Milton Keynes, was asked by an abattoir whom he supplies beef to, to complete an online survey about his antibiotics use.

An abattoir has asked us to fill in a detailed survey for a major supermarket (who in my opinion has done nothing to support British farmers), and retains the right to share the data with whoever they like! I don’t think I want to give them my time and data! Am I wrong? 🤷🏻‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/EuWwnG3EYV

— Headys farm (@HeadysFarm) January 21, 2023

The survey included a waiver in the small print that the customer reserves the right to share the data with third parties, if necessary.

“It was a quite detailed health and welfare questionnaire including farm antibiotics use. I did not take it any further than that,” he added.

Mr Heady said antibiotics use on farms can vary greatly each year. “You have three or four years of having good, healthy cattle. You have kept the pneumonia out with good ventilation and bedding.

“Then you get one year where you have to go through and treat some animals with antibiotics. Otherwise, they will die.”

Reluctance

Mr Heady said he was reluctant to complete the survey in case the supplier used the data “to beat me with a stick later on” and require him to cut his antibiotics use, reduce his prices or even cancel his contract.

He added: “If the data was just to be used by the supplier that would be fine. But I feel uncomfortable that it could be shared with a third party. It’s not beyond the realms that the retailer could share it with someone like Peta.”

Mr Heady said he was receiving about four surveys a year to complete for his beef enterprise, which was time-consuming. He would much prefer to receive one standardised survey annually.

“Some companies, such as McDonald’s and M&S, I have no issue in sharing data with because they have invested time in us, and built trust,” he added.

“But I would rather not spend my Sunday evenings filling in a survey for a major retailer that does very little to support British agriculture.”