14 July 2025. Michael Guerin, AgForce CEO.
Three critical questions spring immediately to mind when talking 'data driven value creation'.
It's being touted as the best way to drive increased productivity and profitability on farm, by using two-way data flow to create and capture value along the supply chain.
While in theory that should ensure producers are more in touch with ever-changing market demands - crucial questions remain. Such as 'where is value created?', 'where is value captured?' and 'who owns the data?'.
For AgForce these questions are critical as we look to represent the producer, who is constrained by a skinny margin, high cost and high-risk environment.
Meat and Livestock Australia launched its new strategic plan recently, with an emphasis on data driven value creation. MLA argues that capturing better value along the supply chain is pivotal to creating a more profitable industry.
The plan also outlines how delivery of a two-way data flow would give producers clearer signals from the market to help them identify high value traits.
These are all laudable aims supported by Integrity Systems, the company that manages and delivers the Australian red meat industry's farm assurance and traceability programs. It advocates for this data driven traceability, saying it would deliver livestock credentials essential for realising improved value through the supply chain.
But the challenge or opportunity facing our industry (depending on your lens) is looking at this from the producer's perspective, rather than as a single commodity issue only viewed back down the supply chain.
The pressures, reporting requirements and different data sets all seeking value from producers is mind-boggling. How about we flip the conversation and provide a comprehensive property level report that feeds into the supply chain.
If we stretch that a little further, there is significant value in producer/property data. So the question then must be asked - 'why should that be given away without its value being appropriately recognised?'.
The food and fibre supply chain is investing heavily in enhancing data systems and AI capabilities to enable linkage of data sets, extraction of value (financial and otherwise) and satisfaction of reporting and other compliance obligations.
There is huge value in all of this, a lot of it generated or emanating from the primary producer's property. Getting fair value (financial and otherwise) for the producer is the challenge - and a vexed one.
Imagine the upside for community, environment, and food security, if we could identify and preserve value in all its forms on property for ongoing investment, rather than have it disappear down the value chain without compensation.
