US dairy farms explore use of blockchain in food supply chain

Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), a national cooperative owned by dairy farm families across the US, is exploring the use of blockchain technology in food and agriculture.

DFA has teamed up with ripe.io, a startup focused on using blockchain to improve data transparency in the food supply chain. Through a pilot project, DFA hopes to increase supply chain transparency and better connect farmer owners with customers.

“Consumers today want to know where their food comes from and blockchain technology, like ripe.io, gives consumers real-time data, which can really help increase trust and confidence about food production from start to finish,” says David Darr, Vice President, Sustainability and Member Services at DFA.

The pilot project leverages data from a group of DFA member farms as well as one of DFA’s manufacturing plants. “We know that there’s a lot of application for blockchain technology within agriculture, and we ultimately want to help our dairy farmers be on the forefront,” says Darr.

Tremendous possibilities

Recently, ripe.io completed the 2018 Sprint Accelerator programme, which is also sponsored by DFA. The 90-day programme aims to helps accelerate and grow startup businesses.

“We’ve led and participated in many other pilot projects and know there are tremendous possibilities with blockchain and agriculture,” says Raja Ramachandran, CEO and Co-founder at ripe.io. “DFA has been a great partner for us, and we look forward to working with them to better understand the potential value blockchain can provide for dairy.”