NFUS informs Cereal Liaison Group of decision after Combinable Crops Committee consultation

NFU Scotland has withdrawn its support for digital grain passports, recommending that the project does not proceed.

NFU Scotland has informed the Cereal Liaison Group of its decision ahead of a meeting tomorrow (17 November) to vote on whether the digital grain passports developed by AHDB should proceed to the ‘build phase’.

The decision was taken after the Union’s Combinable Crops committee received a demonstration of the digital grain passport system prototype earlier this month.

The committee went on to discuss the pros and cons of digital grain passports in detail before arriving at its decision. On balance, it found that the cons outweighed the pros. The committee also discussed digital grain passports with members in their regions.  A further full committee meeting was held on the 11 November and, following a vote that reflected the majority views of members, NFU Scotland opted not support digital passports proceeding to build phase.

Combinable Crops Committee chair Willie Thomson said: “While many committee members could see some potential advantages of digital grain passports, there was a concern over value for money, future cost increases, and extension of their scope. There was an overall feeling that digitising the passports would make something simple more complex and less accessible, at an unreasonably high cost.”  

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Contact Bob Carruth on 0131 472 4006