Bayer Crop Science and BlockApps launch TraceHarvest Network

Bayer Crop Science and BlockApps – the largest blockchain platform – announce the launch of the TraceHarvest Network. The BlockApps TraceHarvest Network is the first blockchain solution of its kind to track and trace the full lifecycle of agricultural products starting at the seed source. For products like seeds, this is to provide a full picture of stewardship as they are sold, exchanged, planted, harvested and processed.

Share data within one platform

Farmers, manufacturers, distributors and processors can selectively share and review data within a single, secure platform, making activities available to the entire chain. This streamlined engagement and real-time information exchange allows all parties to identify and address product tracking and integrity issues faster than previous manual processes allowed.

Bayer was a founding member of TraceHarvest Network and has recently been an active user of the network in the United States and Brazil, among others, with further plans to expand globally.

Revolutionising the agriculture industry

“Blockchain technology is already revolutionising the agriculture industry, and we’re leading the way thanks to our partnership with the Crop Science Division at Bayer which has turned this concept from idea into reality,” said Kieren James-Lubin, President and CEO at BlockApps. “Together, we’re developing world-class innovation with farmers, setting new standards in sustainability and driving digital transformation that will shape the future of the industry.”

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The BlockApps dashboard. Farmers, manufacturers, distributors and processors can selectively share and review data within a single, secure platform, making activities available to the entire chain. – Photo: BlockApps

According to Bayer, current analog processes create significant costs in labor and resources and fail to deliver the data that farmers and other value chain participants need. “Such inefficiencies also put businesses at risk of compliance violations across the supply chain and in multiple geographies. TraceHarvest brings agricultural products to market faster, helps safely launch new products in approved regions and traces them accurately to provide strong proof of compliance with international regulations,” says Bayer.

Soybeans and corn

Bayer used TraceHarvest over the course of several growing seasons to track the lifecycle and status of the company’s highest-value agricultural products, including soybeans and corn, from sale and planting through harvest.

Member farmers, manufacturers, distributors and processors use the same TraceHarvest network to track where their products are going, providing them with full visibility into the source of their crops.

“By enabling the traceability of products throughout the food supply chain, TraceHarvest will provide a basis for new solutions and services around the food quality and transparency questions that are top-of-mind for farmers and consumers,” said Sascha Israel, Bayer Crop Science CIO and Head of Digital Transformation.

TraceHarvest Network runs on STRATO platform

The TraceHarvest Network runs on BlockApps’ cloud-agnostic STRATO platform, a flexible, enterprise-grade, Ethereum-based blockchain solution for building and running business networks with built-in security.

“TraceHarvest is highly scalable, which is crucially important because it allows members to add more business processes, use cases and tech integrations into the very same network,” Kieren James-Lubin continues. “For example, network members will be able to collaborate with downstream food producers to extend tracking of agricultural products even further down the value chain and ultimately verify claims made about their ingredients and sustainability practices.”