In recent months, the leadership group, facilitated by the AHDB and made up of industry bodies including the NFU, has been working on proposals for a digital passport (combinable crops) to eventually replace the current paper passport.
At the end of 2023, the group published a business case and the NFU reached out to its membership to ask for their feedback on the proposal.
The feedback received was extensive and wide-ranging, and combined with feedback from the rest of the supply chain, the industry group has been working to update the business case to address all of the concerns raised.
New business case
This updated business case has now been published, and the NFU National Crops Board is in agreement that the issues raised by members have been addressed.
Read our breakdown on the business case below to get to the detail.
The NFU also set out 5 key principles that the digital passport must meet, which the National Crops Board believes the updated business case now does.
One of the most significant changes to the business case is that the onus has changed from a decision to change the paper passport to a digital passport, to a decision on whether the industry would like one AHDB-owned digital passport which holds all data centrally instead of multiple systems with the data owned by individual businesses.
This is because the supply chain has made clear that it will bring its own digital systems to the industry if there is no agreement on a universal system.
Have your say
The NFU combinable crops team would like to hear from members on the updated business case through Regional Crops Board meetings and upcoming events such as Cereals.
The board encourages you to read the business case in detail and share any views with the relevant board members in your region.