BeefLedger turns focus to domestic beef supply chain

Having pioneered and continue to lead the development and deployment of blockchain technologies in the international beef supply chain space, BeefLedger has recently teamed up with local Queensland independent beef brand owner Sonya Comiskey to deliver a track and trace of her first shipment of Bazardaiz-cross cattle.

This is part of a new brand being launched by Sonya: Southern Cross Beef. More about this a bit further down.

The project saw a full shipment of cattle digitally registered to the BeefLedger Proof of Authority blockchain, and tracked through key events via finishing at a feedlot until finally being processed into boxed beef. The entire journey tracked across Queensland over 72 days.

6,000 data points

Approximately 6,000 data points were credentialed to the blockchain via our unique multisig consensus protocol. In the case of this shipment, the data was independently attested to by multiple signatories from genesis through to each transportation event.

The data is secured by cryptographic signatures from proposal through to writing to the blockchain. Privacy and commercial confidence aside, each step in the production of data can be interrogated so that signatories can be identified and verified.

Hands On

The BeefLedger team took a very hands on role in working with Sonya on tracking this shipment. Our research and development team went onsite at the feedlot at Dalby to witness to arrival of the cattle, and document the events.

Event documentation is a feature of our blockchain information system that provides members of the general community with access to information in formats that ‘make sense’ at a human level. For instance, photographic event evidence files are part-and-parcel of the data proposal and validation process.

“In many track and trace projects, the role of the ‘human being’ is often forgotten, in preference for a narrow focus on machine-generated data. For us, having pathways or windows by which the wider audience can be meaningfully party to event validation is critical to bridging the information divide between producers and consumers.

“Photographic event evidence files connect the worlds of the consuming public and the events that we record on our blockchain. For data to be meaningful information and knowledge for a wide community of stakeholders, we need to ensure the data formats are captured and delivered in ways that make sense to people. In this case photos are an excellent ‘translation’ medium,” said BeefLedger Chairman Warwick Powell.

The Product and the Producer

Most importantly, the product we helped track is high value Queensland Beef, produced in Regional Queensland for Queenslanders by a Queenslander.

Southern Cross Beef is from cattle produced from the “heart of Queensland”. According to SCB founder Sonya Comiskey, “our beef is raised on natural rangeland pastures and finished on grain. It’s tender, nutritious and above all, an outstanding eating experience.”

Sonya Comiskey is an award-winning beef producer. She’s a proud Queenslander who loves the people and the places beyond the big city lights. She is a Nuffield Farming Scholar with an interest in value chain collaboration, provenance and how technologies can be harnessed to facilitate authenticity and grow consumer trust.

The product is available in South East Queensland from specialist stockists. Check it out at www.superbutcher.com.au.

Future Steps

Southern Cross Beef’s blockchain journey has only just started. This first implementation is the ‘bare bones’ of a process that is focused on increasing transparency and consumer accessibility to key supply chain and product data. We focused on the livestock this time around, and will turn our attention to enhancing the consumer experience as time goes by as we work closer with Sonya and your graphics and engagement team.

Future shipments are already being planned, and the BeefLedger team looks forward to working closely with Sonya to refine exactly how best to progress each step in this journey.

Research Collaboration

This Project was undertaken within the context of tests and evaluations as part of the BeefLedger + QUT + Food Agility CRC collaborative Export Smart Contracts Project. The BeefLegends component of this research project has benefited from feedback from Sonya, for which we are most grateful. We look forward to extending these preliminary learnings to driving new opportunities for ‘digital value creation’ and long-term regional prosperity and employment opportunities for regional communities in the future.

 

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