Attracting farmers to Blockchain

07-05-2018 | Home | News

Small and medium sized agricultural producers and processors are being given a helping hand thanks to a new blockchain ecosystem that has been designed to create a global marketplace of food and agricultural products.

Finding customers can be challenging for a farmer but the 1000Ecofarms platform has been built with the aim of connecting farmers and customers who need healthy and natural food. Using the instrument, anyone can find nearby farmers and order products with delivery.

Using cryptocurrencies

While 100EcoFarms already allows sellers to accept Bitcoin, Ethereum and other popular cryptocurrencies as payment methods, it has formed a partnership with FoodCoin, a blockchain-based cryptocurrency, which is providing greater services and enhanced capabilities for farmers on the platform.

Traditional payment systems are often pricey or inconvenient to small farmers but the partnership should reduce costs for sellers and help them attain greater value from sales.

Referral bonuses

Last month, FoodCoin launched a referral programme to attract farmers to blockchain with the company saying that everyone who brings farmers to the FoodCoin Ecosystem will be rewarded as long as they have registered on the website. Any seller that is referred by an individual to 1000 EcoFarms will allow the person to receive referral bonuses in the amount of 5% of all revenue generated by the seller for ever.

1000ecofarms.com

Savory Farms – Maryland

Among the poultry producers belonging to 1000ecofarms.com is Savory Farms, which describes itself as a small, family farm with a big vision based in Ellicott City, Maryland.

Eggs come from chicken that live in roaming tractors on pasture land and are fed an organic, soy free and GMO diet. Their mission is to “raise healthy animals on natural pasture with the highest ethical standards for animals and their caregivers so that our family and yours eats nourishing food raised responsibly.”

Wick place Farm – Wisconsin

Wick Place Farm in Raymond, Wisconsin is another that is selling free-range pastured chicken eggs on the platform at $3/dozen. Owners Mike and Cheryl Miracle breed and keep a flock of 100 chickens for hatching and table eggs.

Grassfed on the Hill – Washington DC

Others taking to the system include buying clubs. Grassfed on the Hill offers sustainably produced chicken and eggs from farms practising restorative agriculture, biodynamic farming and all natural practices.

Founded 5 years ago by activist Liz Reitzig, it has been operating in the Washington DC region and has more than 300 members.

Ms Reitzig believes FoodCoin will make a difference: “I can see how FoodCoin will become an important part of the buying club model. Exchanges between farmers and consumers are the start of something new and exciting. Since the purpose of FoodCoin is to offer a new ecosystem to support farmers and those who want local foods, it makes perfect sense that a buying club would benefit from this technology.”

Mark Meytin, co-founder of 1000EcoFarms also believes in the opportunities made available by the technology:

“Since the start of our service we have been constantly looking for new and innovative technologies that can help farmers and small food producers to easier market and sell their products. From social media integration to search engine optimisation of their pages, we have embraced technologies to allow farmers to attract more customers and sell more products.

“So, when we discovered the benefits of blockchain in general and FoodCoin Ecosystem in particular, we have jumped at the opportunity to bring them to our customers. We are excited to help small farmers realize both the current benefits and those that will come later as this cutting edge technology matures and gives the farmers access to tools that are otherwise available only to big corporations,” he added.