Will Blockchain herald the end of Red Tractor?

Chris F

Staff Member
Media
Location
Hammerwich
A member said on another thread I was a little harsh about the performance of Red Tractor.

I personally believe our farming standards are some of the best in the world. So working on that premise, wouldn't it be nice if Red Tractor actually highlighted this instead of being used as a stick. And blockchain could be the building blocks of an answer. If Red Tractor was really working it would show the excellence and quality that UK farmers produce. As quality levels would be verifiably higher.

Putting it simply - "blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of actions that can be programmed to record virtually anything of value.” Sound familiar?

It can't be forged. It can't be faked. It can't be hacked. It can't be retrospectively filled in and it is always open for interrogation. It is an online version of all the records we already hold, with multiple people being able to access it at all times.

And the impressive thing is - its already being done. But its by the brands like Napolina Tomatoes - as they want to ensure their supply chain is completely auditable not on one day of the year, but on every day of the year.

https://www.edie.net/news/7/Princes...o-minimise-supply-chain-sustainability-risks/

They are using the data to know what needs auditing, rather than one audit a year. Its not a stretch to see that this could be done at a UK level. "Blockchain" is just the digital ledger that holds the records.

So when you read things like this and then look at the systems used by Red Tractor and the many, many stories you read on TFF. I'm happy to stand by my comments that - "It's just not good enough".

Red Tractor has to change.
 

Chris F

Staff Member
Media
Location
Hammerwich
I’m not saying you’re wrong, but if somebody can build these systems then somebody else can corrupt them.

Ever was it so.

No so. Blockchain has proven itself to be incorruptible. Information is held everywhere - not just in one location. So you have to hack the whole internet at the same time to edit just one record. Its how bitcoin balances are held. If it could be done, there would be someone sitting with a billion bitocins right now. I think someone would rather hack bitocin balances than a bit of farmer information.
 
Location
Devon
No so. Blockchain has proven itself to be incorruptible. Information is held everywhere - not just in one location. So you have to hack the whole internet at the same time to edit just one record. Its how bitcoin balances are held. If it could be done, there would be someone sitting with a billion bitocins right now. I think someone would rather hack bitocin balances than a bit of farmer information.

And they said the Titanic was unsinkable..........................................................
 
No so. Blockchain has proven itself to be incorruptible. Information is held everywhere - not just in one location. So you have to hack the whole internet at the same time to edit just one record. Its how bitcoin balances are held. If it could be done, there would be someone sitting with a billion bitocins right now. I think someone would rather hack bitocin balances than a bit of farmer information.


I’m sure the companies that provide IT services to banks aren’t technotwats like me, but those systems seem to falter regularly.

I can’t see a bit of farm info being that well protected.
 
Sounds like your next business venture.. setting up your own assurance scheme.

As a plus farmers would only need to update their information rather than hold it themselves and anyone requiring access to it would be able to do so with no intervention required by the farmer. No more endless circle jerk papertrail. Rat man comes. Does his thing. Whacks the records into your block chain and goes home. Farmer just pays his bill. Zero effort required.
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
A good start would be investment by red tractor in some simple compliance recording tech / app etc to make data collection simple and consistent removing need for universal manual inspection but just target those that are not meeting the standards identified by the application - reduction is inspection cost could reduce costs significantly while better upholding standards

Money better spend than a rubbish tv ad

I did suggest this (and blockchain) when I met them a year or so ago now
 
A good start would be investment by red tractor in some simple compliance recording tech / app etc to make data collection simple and consistent removing need to universal inspection but just target those that are not meeting the standards identified by the application - reduction is inspection cost could reduce costs significantly while better upholding standards

Money better spend than a rubbish tv ad

I did suggest this (and blockchain) when I met them a year or so ago now

Fudge them. Circumvent the muppets by forming an industry led initiative driven by actual real world stakeholders= farmers.
 

Chris F

Staff Member
Media
Location
Hammerwich
Sounds like your next business venture.. setting up your own assurance scheme.

As a plus farmers would only need to update their information rather than hold it themselves and anyone requiring access to it would be able to do so with no intervention required by the farmer.

Err - no. Wayyyyyy outside my/our skillset.

Red Tractor take the money from the farmers - they therefore have the means to do this. They just need to decide to do it, before someone else does. And that someone might be a brand or indeed a supermarket.
 
Err - no. Wayyyyyy outside my/our skillset.

Red Tractor take the money from the farmers - they therefore have the means to do this. They just need to decide to do it, before someone else does. And that someone might be a brand or indeed a supermarket.

Sounds like you should email McDonalds the idea to start with. Then the milk buyers.

Make red tractor obsolete.
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
what about the electricity consumption? apparently more electricity is being consumed keeping all these blockchain ledgers alive than that produced by all the world's solar panels. So all the progress that has been made with green solar energy has been spunked away on blockchain technologies

Ledgers aren’t consuming the power - it’s mining bitcoin that does that which isn’t quite the same thing

The word blockchain and bitcoin have become synonymous but are not exactly the sane thing
 

Chris F

Staff Member
Media
Location
Hammerwich
what about the electricity consumption? apparently more electricity is being consumed keeping all these blockchain ledgers alive than that produced by all the world's solar panels. So all the progress that has been made with green solar energy has been spunked away on blockchain technologies

I don't think anyone is turning off the internet any time soon (although Terminator 3 just jumped into my head). Blockchain sits on the internet, the internet was not invented for the tech. Interesting attitude though.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 42.9%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 63 34.2%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.3%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 6 3.3%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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