Levy Organization Ahdb has launched a new project to crack one of the biggest digital headaches in agriculture: how to share data safely, easily and in farmer terms.
Initially focusing on environmental data, the pilot aims to demonstrate technical solutions that allow farmers to safely share data from existing sources such as UK Cattle Athletic Services (BCMS), processors and feed suppliers.
“The amount of data farmers collect, record and share is greater than ever,” said Adam Short, Associate Director of AHDB’s Data Program.
As this demand increases, concerns grow over the “ownership and control, data security, and the value and benefits of sharing such information,” he added.
Short said AHDB has worked closely with industry stakeholders over the past year to explore how data sharing and governance actually works.
“We are also involved with organizations around the world who have already implemented farm-led solutions for data sharing,” he explained.
“Farmer Trust for potential systems is paramount and we’re at the forefront of our minds as we progress through our proof of concept.”
The early stages of the project will focus on ensuring appropriate permissions from farmers and data owners, such as processors and rural payment agencies, and clarifying the purpose and limits of the data.
Once the authorization pathway is established, the project will build a system that connects these data streams to practical tools such as carbon calculators.
A key feature of the system is the Permissions Center, co-designed and tested by a group of 15 farmers involved in the project. The intent is to ensure that the platform reflects real-world agricultural needs and demonstrates clear, farmer-driven data control.
Salabel, a farmer and member of the Farm Data Principles group, welcomed the efforts of AHDB and noted that legislative pressure on farmers to provide production data is merely growing.
“We are pleased that AHDB is working to build a solution that will help farmers provide this data once and use it for multiple purposes in a time-efficient way,” she said.
Ms Bell emphasized the importance of transparency and accountability in how farm data is processed. “The work on Farm Data Principles is trying to encourage all end users of farm data to be honest and transparent about how they use that data,” she said.
“Both our work and AHDB jobs aim to place trust and accuracy at the heart of data processing and at the heart of saving farmers time and effort as much as possible.”
Those interested in contributing are encouraged to contact the environment Aldata@ahdb.org.uk
