Digital grain passport consultation – NFU response

This consultation has now closed.

As part of the industry-wide consultation on the proposal to implement a digital passport for combinable crop movements, the NFU has engaged with members through a range of different channels to form a response.

This included the member survey that was open from the start of December 2023, and discussions at regional crops boards.

From the outset the National Crops Board has supported the principle of a digital passport on the proviso that a number of key principles and tests have to be met for it to work.

These include:

• It has to provide real-time quality feedback to growers to boost efficiency.
• The IT has to be resilient and reliable for all areas and situations.
• It has to offer a genuine benefit to growers.
• The individual data included should be secure and confidential whilst the aggregate data has the potential to offer useful industry intelligence and insights.
• It must be simple to use.

Based on the business case put forward, the NFU is not in a position to support progressing the digital grain passport in its current format.

A critical benefit of a digital passport for our members is the transparency and efficiency that immediate feedback of sample data at intake would deliver for their farm business. This must be guaranteed, not simply an ‘expectation’ as stated in the business case.

Furthermore, a number of practical challenges and concerns remain. The most common reason to oppose the digital passport – a lack of internet connection at grain stores – has already been addressed by the business case.

However, there is a wider issue with connectivity where some farm businesses do not have a smartphone or the computer literacy to use one.

The NFU would not be able to support the proposal if there is a chance that some members will not be able to trade their grain. Without a non-digital work round, this shortcoming is a significant block to the business case.

Further concerns raised by members include:

• The cost of the system, with cost inflation having an impact on margins which are already being tightly squeezed.
• The potential issues caused by devices running out of battery or system outages, including cyber attacks.
• A perceived lack of flexibility versus the paper version, especially where there are late changes to logistics.

The NFU combinable crops board continues to support the principle of a digital passport, and will work with the Leadership Group to deliver increased transparency and efficiency in the combinable crops supply chain, but it is vital that these concerns, most notably around the immediate feedback of sample data, are addressed.

The background

Over the past twelve months, a group of people from across the arable supply chain and including the NFU, have been reviewing and revising the work previously undertaken by the AHDB and others to develop a DGP.

From the start, whilst the National Crops Board has supported the potential advantages of a DGP, they have been clear a number of key principles and tests have to be met for it to work and these include:

• It must be simple to use.
• It has to offer a genuine benefit to growers.
• The IT has to be resilient and reliable for all areas and situations.
• It has to provide real-time quality feedback to growers to boost efficiency.
• The individual data included should be secure and confidential whilst the aggregate data has the potential to offer useful industry intelligence and insights.

What’s being proposed?

The proposal developed by three key groups – an Industry Leadership Group, an Industry Data Group, and an Industry Governance Group goes into more detail than can be fully summarised here, but some of the key parts of the proposal are that it is designed to deliver:

• Growers receiving crop quality results in ‘real time’ allowing time to react with increased transparency on delivery. Real time means as soon as the test results are known by the recipient they are shared with growers via the DP.
• Buyers fulfilling feed and food safety responsibilities can do so more comprehensively and efficiently.
• Data will be securely aggregated, guarding individual confidentiality and yet providing valuable insights to the advantage of the whole supply chain.
• It is a single, industry owned and controlled proposal, which replicates the current roles and responsibilities of the paper passport growers are used to. As a result, it may reduce the risk of multiple DGPs being developed by the industry which could bring greater complexity and administrative burden to growers.
• The proposal clearly sets out both the cost of developing and establishing this DGP system, and the potential benefits and savings it offers. Section 11 of the business case explores the detail of this, and allows you to think about what it would mean for your business.
• In simple terms, the business case says the development cost would be £500k, and the annual running cost would be £396k but the savings over 10 years would be £6 million.

This is just a simple summary of a detailed proposal, and we’d encourage as many of you as possible to read the information, FAQs document, and business case hosted on the AHDB website.

Next steps

The NFU Crops Board need to hear your feedback, on the proposal in general, and whether it meets the key tests and principles set out at the start of this process.

Only if widespread support is established will the AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds Sector Council consider allocating levy funds to developing the system and other funding streams be pursued.

NFU crops board chair Matt Culley said: “The industry has worked hard to develop a proposal for a Digital Grain Passport that offers a number of benefits to UK growers, and that includes a simple, secure, and reliable system for the real-time return of quality data to farm.

“The NFU has made a major contribution and worked to ensure members’ interests have remained at the forefront of the project development. But for this to proceed, we now need to hear feedback from our members, because the AHDB Sector Council will have to see widespread support before they consider allocating levy money to the project.”

Use the form on this page to submit your views to the board before 24 January.

We’ve met with the CLG (Cereals Liaison Group) to discuss the proposed Digital Grain Passport and feed back members’ concerns.

The meeting had been called specifically to discuss the AHDB’s proposals for a DGP (Digital Grain Passport), and the feedback each organisation has gathered following the recent webinars outlining how it could work.

NFU Crops Board chair Matt Culley relayed the feedback the national and regional crops boards have received in recent weeks.

Addressing growers’ concerns

He said the NFU remains supportive of the project, but more work was required to ensure the concerns growers have expressed are addressed.

These specifically refer to questions around who is responsible for completing and holding each part of the DGP, how it will cope with those in areas with poor or limited access to the internet, is the process simple enough, and is the governance sufficiently robust?

Agreement across the board

The majority of representatives in the meeting took a similar position. They were supportive of the project, but some raised areas where their members would like to see some changes, or more work done.

The meeting agreed with this approach, and people welcomed the AHDB taking feedback on board. We hope everyone will now work together achieve this.

As the project develops, your NFU representatives will continue to stress that the DGP should at first focus on digitising the function, roles, and responsibilities of the paper passport.

Beyond this, it must bring real benefits to the grower by being more efficient than the paper system, and deliver a genuine and useful two-way flow of data back to farm. 

Throughout October, the AHDB held a series of webinars to explain how its proposed Digital Grain Passport scheme could work and to allow individuals and trade associations to make suggestions and raise any concerns.

If the new initiative is approved, the AHDB has committed to providing three years of levy funding to get the project off the ground.

If approved, the first system tests would then be expected to take place in 2023, followed by a phased adoption where for a three-year period both paper and digital systems would operate in tandem to ensure as smooth a transition as possible for growers, storekeepers drivers and intake staff alike.