Creating an Internet-Based Service for Merchandising Identity-Preserved Grains

As agricultural acreage and production in South America and other low cost production areas continue to expand, U.S. producers must adopt new technology, streamline their already highly efficient production systems, and look for value-adding opportunities to diversify from the highly competitive commodity markets. Indeed, value-added agriculture promises to become increasingly important as new specialty crops are developed through both traditional genetic breeding and biotechnology. Consumer demand is also creating opportunities as increased awareness of food safety, organics, non-GM foods, functional foods, and even bioterrorism fosters interest in quality-assured and traceable systems in the agrifood supply chain. However, today's highly advanced agricultural supply chain has evolved to serve a vast commodity system that has difficulty handling the relatively small quantities of product associated with specialty, value-added agriculture. The development of a web-based electronic merchandising system would launch agriculture into the forefront of all business markets. With preliminary research indicating a positive response toward the project, even from farmers previously unwilling to use electronic records, the potential customer base is only limited by the number of producers. This system will lower input costs, improve traceability, and reduce producer effort while maintaining better records, providing customization of products, and keeping even the most distant farmers interacting in real-time.