FOA 206: Enabling Blockchain Applications in Agriculture

<p>Blockchain. A word that has been overhyped and yet still becoming more realized every day. Bridie Ohlsson joins us and is the Founder of <a href="https://www.geora.io">Geora</a>, a protocol for blockchain applications in agriculture. Bridie’s career with blockchain began with <a href= "https://www.agridigital.io/products/blockchain">AgriDigital</a> when the world was discovering and getting excited about the potential applications of blockchain. Bridie shares what the goals of any blockchain company were at that time.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>“So you needed to be kind of an open and fairly non-competitive technology to encourage people to come in and experiment and work together and integrate their systems and share data.” - Bridie Ohlsson</em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p>Where AgriDigital provided access to blockchain for producers, Geora was formed to build on that and provide the next step. Geora’s protocol has isolated what data needs to be retained on blockchain and what data while significant to have for logistical reasons does not need to be tied to the product on blockchain. Bridie describes Geora as an “infrastructure” where they “work out where there’s a valuable data point.”</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>“We’re really trying to build tools, digital tools, that are really useful for ag so there is adoption...” - Bridie Ohlsson</em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p>Bridie expects that these “data rich assets” will lead to financial gain for producers. At the moment her company is trying “to get a really solid base of digital record keeping systems.” She admits that blockchain is not necessary to acquire that data but if the goal is to monetize that data then blockchain will be needed, so the technology is being employed now. This will ultimately provide another avenue for people or companies to invest in agriculture with real time access to the farmer’s data and all to the farmer’s benefit. The farmer will have absolute control over their data and how and when it is shared. This focus on agriculture amplifies t