industry? And why is this important?
Simply put, blockchain provides an avenue for the
customer to understand where their food comes
from and where it is in the process. It utilizes smart
contracts with
various suppliers
along the route.
Because of the way
blockchains are built,
no person can tamper
it, making the process
secure and viable.
Servi-Tech’s
role within this
technology will be to
provide customers
access to information
regarding their
sample from start to
Graphic courtesy of CoBank
finish.
“Servi-Tech’s role
within this technology will start out by providing
customers access to information in near real time,
as their sample is processed through the laboratory.
We need to do this as a part of providing ‘chain-of-
custody’ or auditing traceability for some important
environmental tests,” said David Loving, programmer.
He added: “Why not provide this transparency and
immutable trust for all tests and all information we
produce?”
How and why is this important?
“I believe customers should choose laboratory
service providers who are willing to share this level of
transparency and willing to record and review their
processes for improved accuracy and lowered cost,”
Loving said. “It just makes good business sense.”
For example, if you own a pizza restaurant, you
would have contracts with many different entities,
including the farmer who has the wheat for your flour,
the manufacturer to make the dough, and then the
truck driver to deliver it.
Each of these contracts, or smart contracts, have to
be validated so that the terms are met. The restaurant
owner can then see where the dough is on the chain,
know when contracts have been met, and a delivery
time.
This process also allows challenges to be caught
throughout the chain. An example of this is if a
contract ensures that the truck driver has temperature
sensors that report
the dough must be
maintained upon
delivery.
If the sensor
indicates that it has
not been kept at that
correct temperature,
blockchain would
interfere, alerting the
store owner that they
should not accept the
dough, as it wasn’t
kept at the correct
setting, per the
agreement.
Why is this tool
important?
Blockchain simplifies transaction processes from
start to finish by
eliminating the middle
men, such as third
parties. These parties
can be banks, credit card
companies, etc.
By not involving these
groups, this makes
any process utilizing
Blockchain
blockchain substantially
provides the
faster.
An example of how
consumer
this works is comparing
and retailer
a ledger to a spreadsheet.
According to
information
Microsoft, if you think
from field to
about a ledger, or an
plate, providing
Excel spreadsheet, the
document is distributed
consistency,
and shared between
Did you
know?
— See Blockchain,
page 21
The Cover Crop Summer 2018
19
trust, and
transparency.