Progress 05/16/11 to 05/15/15
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience are as follows: 1. Consumers of domestic produce: The general American public, who are the largest consumers of domestically grown produce, will be indirectly affected by successful results from this research project. Heightened sensitivity to the security of our nation and its citizens has been the cause of a greater focus on potential areas of security breaches in all parts of life. Possible threats to our domestic food supply are not only potential realities, but are actual experiences as is seen regularly by accidental contaminations of food or medicine requiring massive recalls of those items. 2. Low-Income Domestic Producers: Traceability technologies such as radio frequency identification (RFID) have great potential to be valuable tools in the efforts being made to make our domestic food supply more secure. Limited financial resources are a major constraint to the widespread use of these technologies. This constraint has a greater impact on low-income producers than it does on other producers. One of the benefits of this research to the farmer is the provision of the technology and covering the costs of implementation to the participating farmers. The results of this research could possibly be used to conduct similar research on a larger scale, which may allow for the provision of this technology to more produce farmers, who otherwise would not be able to afford its costs. 3. Members of the Low Income Domestic Producer Food Supply Chains: The same benefits from this research that apply to the farmer also apply to any members of that farmer's food supply chain. 4. Non-low Income Domestic Producers: While the financial burden of purchasing, implementing, utilizing, and maintaining traceability technology is felt greatest by low-income farmers, all farmers to a large degree have constraints that may make it difficult to purchase the required traceability technology. In order to create a more secure domestic food supply, it will require that all farmers begin to utilize the technology and methods presented in this research. The scope of this project covers all domestic producers, regardless of their economic status. 5. Members of the Non-low Income Domestic Producer Food Supply Chains: The same benefits from this research that apply to the farmer also apply to any members of that farmer's food supply chain. 6. Participating Farmers For This Research: The participating farmers for this research are the first (of hopefully many more) to experience the potential usefulness of using RFID technology for providing traceability of their business items. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The following presentations were made: S. Craig Littlejohn presented at the Professional Agricultural Workers Conference (PAWC) in December 2012. Title: "Traceability Technology Benefits for Improved Minority Farmer South Carolina Food". James Murray presented at the Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) in March 2013 and participated in the student oral presentation competition at this conference. Title: The Accountability and Transparency Across the Supply Chain of Any Food Product Using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Technology. James Murray and Joshua Smith presented a poster at the 1890 ARD Symposium in April 2013 and participated in the student oral presentation competition at this conference. Title: RFID Benefits For Improved South Carolina Food Supply Safety. James Murray and Joshua Smith presented a poster at the 1890 ARD Symposium in April 2013 and participated in the student oral presentation competition at this conference. Title: RFID BENEFITS FOR IMPROVED SOUTH CAROLINA FOOD SUPPLY SAFETY. S. Craig Littlejohn presented at the Industrial and Systems Engineering Research Conference (ISERC) in May 2013. Title: INCREASING DOMESTIC FOOD SECURITY THROUGH TRACEABILITY TECHNOLOGY. James Murray presented at the Professional Agricultural Workers Conference (PAWC) N December 2013. Title: THE ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY ACROSS THE SUPPLY CHAIN OF ANY FOOD PRODUCT USING RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION TECHNOLOGY. S. Craig Littlejohn presented at the Professional Agricultural Workers Conference (PAWC) in December 2013. Title: RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION AND FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT. S. Craig Littlejohn presented for the National Science Foundation (NSF)/Historical Black College and University (HBCU) Undergraduate Program (UP) in July 2014. Presentation Title: RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION (RFID) BENEFITS FOR THE LIMITED RESOURCE SOUTH CAROLINA FARMER. July, 2014. Orangeburg, South Carolina. S. Craig Littlejohn presented at the Professional Agricultural Workers Conference (PAWC) in December 2014. Title: SOUTH CAROLINA RURAL COMMUNITY FOOD PROTECTION THROUGH TRACEABILITY TECHNOLOGY. December 2014. Tuskegee, Alabama. Kordell Walker presented at the Professional Agricultural Workers Conference (PAWC) in December 2014. Title: TRACEABILITY TECHNOLOGY IMPACTS ON SOUTH CAROLINA COMMUNITY FOOD SECURITY. December 2014. Tuskegee, Alabama How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The following presentations were made within various professional environments that allowed for the dissemination of project results to specific communities of interest: S. Craig Littlejohn presented at the Professional Agricultural Workers Conference (PAWC) in December 2012. Title: "Traceability Technology Benefits for Improved Minority Farmer South Carolina Food". James Murray presented at the Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) in March 2013 and participated in the student oral presentation competition at this conference. Title: The Accountability and Transparency Across the Supply Chain of Any Food Product Using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Technology. James Murray and Joshua Smith presented a poster at the 1890 ARD Symposium in April 2013 and participated in the student oral presentation competition at this conference. Title: RFID Benefits For Improved South Carolina Food Supply Safety. James Murray and Joshua Smith presented a poster at the 1890 ARD Symposium in April 2013 and participated in the student oral presentation competition at this conference. Title: RFID BENEFITS FOR IMPROVED SOUTH CAROLINA FOOD SUPPLY SAFETY. S. Craig Littlejohn presented at the Industrial and Systems Engineering Research Conference (ISERC) in May 2013. Title: INCREASING DOMESTIC FOOD SECURITY THROUGH TRACEABILITY TECHNOLOGY James Murray presented at the Professional Agricultural Workers Conference (PAWC) N December 2013. Title: THE ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY ACROSS THE SUPPLY CHAIN OF ANY FOOD PRODUCT USING RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION TECHNOLOGY. S. Craig Littlejohn presented at the Professional Agricultural Workers Conference (PAWC) in December 2013. Title: RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION AND FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT. S. Craig Littlejohn presented for the National Science Foundation (NSF)/Historical Black College and University (HBCU) Undergraduate Program (UP) in July 2014. Presentation Title: RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION (RFID) BENEFITS FOR THE LIMITED RESOURCE SOUTH CAROLINA FARMER. July, 2014. Orangeburg, South Carolina. S. Craig Littlejohn presented at the Professional Agricultural Workers Conference (PAWC) in December 2014. Title: SOUTH CAROLINA RURAL COMMUNITY FOOD PROTECTION THROUGH TRACEABILITY TECHNOLOGY. December 2014. Tuskegee, Alabama Kordell Walker presented at the Professional Agricultural Workers Conference (PAWC) in December 2014. Title: TRACEABILITY TECHNOLOGY IMPACTS ON SOUTH CAROLINA COMMUNITY FOOD SECURITY. December 2014. Tuskegee, Alabama The publications below have also been used to disseminate the project's results to communities of interest: Littlejohn, Samuel C. "Worker Scheduling for Maintenance Modeling Software", in the International Journal of Modern Engineering Research 2013, pgs.: 2183 - 2186. Littlejohn, S. Craig "Maintenance Scheduling Improvements In Flexible Manufacturing System Supply Chains" in the American Journal of Engineering Research 2013, pgs.: 107 -115. Littlejohn, S. Craig, Moorman, J., "Increasing Domestic Food Security through Traceability Technology", Proceedings of the 2013 Industrial and Systems Engineering Research Conference, 2013, pgs.: 1815-1824. S. Craig Littlejohn. "Modernizing Agricultural Methods: Automatic Identification Traceability Technology and the Small Scale Limited Resource Farmer", The International Organization of Scientific Research Journal of Engineering. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The following have been accomplished under these goals: The traceability equipment has been provided to the selected small scale Orangeburg County, South Carolina farmer. The traceability equipment was implemented into the supply chain for this farmer. Training was provided for proper use of this equipment. Data collection was conducted on seasonal crops (spring, summer, fall, winter). A process was conducted for determining the necessary requirements and feasibility for integrating the RFID system used in this project with the inventory systems used by a selected Orangeburg County, South Carolina medium scale farm participant's distribution centers.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
S. Craig Littlejohn. Modernizing Agricultural Methods: Automatic Identification Traceability Technology and the Small Scale Limited Resource Farmer , The International Organization of Scientific Research Journal of Engineering, October 2014, pgs.: 20-26.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Littlejohn, S. Craig, Moorman, J., Increasing Domestic Food Security through Traceability Technology , Proceedings of the 2013 Industrial and Systems Engineering Research Conference, 2013, pgs.: 1815-1824.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Littlejohn, S. Craig "Maintenance Scheduling Improvements In Flexible Manufacturing System Supply Chains" in the American Journal of Engineering Research 2013, pgs.: 107 -115.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Littlejohn, Samuel C. "Worker Scheduling for Maintenance Modeling Software", in the International Journal of Modern Engineering Research 2013, pgs.: 2183 - 2186.
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Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14
Outputs
Target Audience: The target audience is as follows: 1. Consumers of domestic produce: The general American public, who is the largest consumers of domestically grown produce, will be indirectly affected by successful results from this research project. Heightened sensitivity to the security of our nation and its citizens has been the cause of a greater focus on potential areas of security breaches in all parts of life. Possible threats to our domestic food supply are not only potential realities, but are actual experiences as is seen regularly by accidental contaminations of food or medicine requiring massive recalls of those items. 2. Low-Income Domestic Producers: Traceability technologies, such as radio frequency identification (RFID), have great potential to be valuable tools in the efforts being made to make our domestic food supply more secure. Limited financial resources are a major constraint to the widespread use of these technologies. This constraint has a greater impact on low-income producers than it does on other producers. One of the benefits of this research to the farmer is the provision of the technology and covering of the costs of implementation to the participating farmers. The results of this research could possibly be used to conduct similar research on a larger scale, which may allow for the provision of this technology to more produce farmers, who otherwise would not be able to afford its costs. 3. Members of the Low Income Domestic Producer Food Supply Chains: The same benefits from this research that apply to the farmer also apply to any members of that farmer's food supply chain. 4. Non-low Income Domestic Producers: While the financial burden of purchasing, implementing, utilizing, and maintaining traceability technology is felt greatest by low-income farmers, all farmers to a large degree have constraints that may make it difficult to purchase the required traceability technology. In order to create a more secure domestic food supply, it will require that all farmers begin to utilize the technology and methods presented in this research. The scope of this project covers all domestic producers, regardless of their economic status. 5. Members of the Non-low Income Domestic Producer Food Supply Chains: The same benefits from this research that apply to the farmer also apply to any members of that farmer's food supply chain. 6. Participating Farmers For This Research: The participating farmers for this research are the first (of hopefully many more) to experience the potential usefulness of using RFID technology for providing traceability of their business items. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The opportunities for training and professional development were: The participating local farmer had to be instructed in the handling and utilization of RFID technology within his normal farming business processes. The project has allowed for specific food security issues and potential solutions to be presented and discussed by the principal investigator and undergraduate student workers at several different professional conferences: Professional Agricultural Workers Conference; 1890 ARD Symposium; Minorities in Agriculture Natural Resources and Related Sciences Conference; Industrial and Systems Engineering Research Conference. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The results were disseminated to communities of interest by the following presentations which were made during 2014: S. Craig Littlejohn presented for the NSF/HBCU UP Program in July 2014. Presentation Title: "Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Benefits for the Limited Resource South Carolina Farmer." S. Craig Littlejohn is to present at the Professional Agricultural Workers Conference (PAWC) in December 2014. Title: South Carolina Rural Community Food Protection through Traceability Technology. Kordell Walker presented is to present at the Professional Agricultural Workers Conference (PAWC) in December 2014. Title: Traceability Technology Impacts on South Carolina Community Food Security. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? The project is scheduled to end next semester. My goals are to complete data collection, make the final analysis and begin the final reporting process.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The following was accomplished under these goals: -The traceability equipment has been provided to the selected small scale Orangeburg County, South Carolina farmer. - The traceability equipment was implemented into the supply chain for the selected businesses. - Training was provided for proper use of this equipment. - Data collection was conducted on seasonal crops. - Collected data from small scale farm for summer crops. - Conducted process for determining the necessary requirements and feasibility for integrating the RFID system used in this project with the inventory systems used by a selected Orangeburg County, South Carolina medium scale farm participant's distribution centers.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
S. Craig Littlejohn: The International Organization of Scientific Research Journal of Engineering (October 2014) Title: MODERNIZING AGRICULTURAL METHODS: AUTOMATIC IDENTIFICATION TRACEABILITY TECHNOLOGY AND THE SMALL SCALE LIMITED RESOURCE FARMER.
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Progress 01/01/13 to 09/30/13
Outputs
Target Audience: Consumers of domestic produce: The general American public who are the largest consumers of domestically grown produce will be indirectly affected by successful results from this research project. Heightened sensitivity to the security of our nation and its citizens has been the cause of a greater focus on potential areas of security breaches in all parts of life. Possible threats to our domestic food supply are not only potential realities but are actual experiences as is seen regularly by accidental contaminations of food or medicine requiring massive recalls of those items. Low-Income Domestic Producers: Traceability technologies such as radio frequency identification (RFID) have great potential to be valuable tools in the efforts being made to make our domestic food supply more secure. Limited financial resources are a major constraint to the widespread use of these technologies. This constraint has a greater impact on low-income producers than it does on other producers. One of the benefits of this research to the farmer is the provision of the technology and the covering of the costs of implementation to the participating farmers. The results of this research could possibly be used to conduct similar research on a larger scale, which may allow for the provision of this technology to help produce farmers, who otherwise would not be able to afford its costs. Members of the Low Income Domestic Producer Food Supply Chains: The same benefits from this research that apply to the farmer also apply to any members of that farmer’s food supply chain. Non-low Income Domestic Producers: While the financial burden of purchasing, implementing, utilizing, and maintaining traceability technology is felt greatest by low-income farmers, all farmers to a large degree have constraints that may make it difficult to purchase the required traceability technology. In order to create a more secure domestic food supply, it will require that all farmers begin to utilize the technology and methods presented in this research. The scope of this project covers all domestic producers, regardless of their economic status. Members of the Non-low Income Domestic Producer Food Supply Chains: The same benefits from this research that apply to the farmer also apply to any members of that farmer’s food supply chain. Participating Farmers For This Research: The participating farmers for this research are the first (of hopefully many more) to experience the potential usefulness of using RFID technology for providing traceability of their business items. Changes/Problems: The following modification has been made to the project: 1. One of the goals was to determine the feasibility of integrating RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tracking within the inventory systems used by the medium scale farm’s distribution center. If it was determined to be feasible, then the step would be to pursue implementation of the RFID within this supply chain. 2. The implementation and integration of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) within this farming system was determined to be infeasible. The primary reason for this is the required extra activities that would need to be performed by the food handlers working at different points in this food supply chain. The extra activities would be needed in order to perform the tracking at the selected “choke” points within the supply chain. After discussions with the manager of the distribution center, the principal investigator was informed that the manager will not allow his workers to perform any other additional work than what they are already expected to deliver.. This makes testing the RFID equipment unfeasible. 3. In the place of implementing and testing the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) equipment within the food supply chain itself, a method for simulating the tracking of items within the medium scaled farmer’s supply chain is being devised. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The participating local farmer had to be instructed in the handling and utilization of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology within his normal farming business processes. The project has allowed for specific food security issues and potential solutions to be presented and discussed by the principal investigator and undergraduate student workers at several different professional conferences: Professional Agricultural Workers Conference (PAWC). 1890 ARD (Association of Research Directors) Symposium. Minorities in Agriculture Natural Resources and Related Sciences Conference. Industrial and Systems Engineering Research Conference. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The results have been disseminated through conference presentations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The traceability equipment was provided to the selected small scale Orangeburg County, South Carolina farmer. - The traceability equipment was implemented into the supply chain for the selected businesses. - Training was provided for proper use of this equipment. - Data collection was conducted on seasonal crops. - Dada was collected from small scale farm for summer crops. - Process was conducted for determining the necessary requirements and feasibility for integrating the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system used in this project with the inventory systems used by a selected Orangeburg County, South Carolina medium scale farm participant’s distribution centers.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
S. Craig Littlejohn in the 2013 Industrial and Systems Engineering Research Conference (ISERC) Proceedings. Title: INCREASING DOMESTIC FOOD SECURITY THROUGH TRACEABILITY TECHNOLOGY.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
James Murray presented at the Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) in March 2013 and participated in the student oral presentation competition at this conference. Title: THE ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY ACROSS THE SUPPLY CHAIN OF ANY FOOD PRODUCT USING RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION (RFID) TECHNOLOGY.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
James Murray and Joshua Smith presented a poster at the 1890 ARD (Association of Research Directors) Symposium in April 2013 and participated in the student oral presentation competition at this conference. Title: RFID BENEFITS FOR IMPROVED SOUTH CAROLINA FOOD SUPPLY SAFETY.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
S. Craig Littlejohn presented at the Professional Agricultural Workers Conference (PAWC) in December 2013. Title: RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION AND FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT.
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Progress 01/01/12 to 12/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The conduction of data collection on a small Orangeburg, South Carolina produce farm is currently ongoing. The farmer is allowing the principle investigator to use Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Technology to track the normal harvesting and selling processes that occur within this farm supply chain. Through this process of data collection, an analysis of the RFID tracking process can be performed. One glaring area of vulnerability in terms of food protection from the perspective of both consumers and growers is the inability to identify more precisely the location on a farm from which possibly contaminated food was harvested. This absence of precision creates greater penalties for farmers and increased concerns about the reliability of food suppliers from the general public. The method that is being implemented by this research is to utilize RFID technology to allow the farm to be segmented into multiple zones in order to facilitate a more accurate identification location of harvest for the food that is being tracked. This method could potentially provide a more efficient process for ascertaining causes of food contamination in cases of food recalls. It could also potentially facilitate a reduction in penalties assigned to farmers during instances of food recalls. Rather than imposing a pre-determined way to partition the farm, the farmer had the majority of input in this process; this is vital. Any success or potential benefits that are derived from this project are predicated on the farmer's willing acquiescence to any changes made to normal farming operations. This helps to create a feeling of ownership by the farmer to the overall project's objectives. A presentation was made at the 2012 Professional Agricultural Worker's Conference (PAWC) entitled "Traceability Technology Benefits for Improved Minority Farmer's South Carolina Food". The presentation was used to highlight the current security vulnerabilities that are present in our domestic food supply chains and the work that this research is doing to determine the ability of traceability technology applications within these supply chains to minimize some of these security vulnerabilities. The presentation was made before various farmers, agricultural government, private sector employees, current faculty and researchers from institutions across the nation that have an interest in work related to agriculture, and students who are majoring in agriculture. Two student presentations were made at the 2012 PAWC (one each by the undergraduate research assistants working with this project). First, James Murray made a presentation entitled "The Accountability and Transparency across the Supply Chain of Any Food Product Using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Technology". Second, Joshua Smith made a presentation entitled "Understanding the Viable Economic Aspect of Properly Utilizing Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Technology". PARTICIPANTS: S. Craig Littlejohn - Principal Investigator James Murray - Undergraduate research assistant Joshua Smith - Undergraduate research assistant Alvin Pair - Orangeburg, South Carolina farmer AssetPulse - RFID Asset Tracking Company; Its organizational mission is to help businesses get a better handle on all of their asset-related data. The address for this organization is 1340 S. De Anza Blvd., Suite #106, San Jose, CA 95129; the phone number is 408.872.3104, and the email address is info@assetpulse.com. TARGET AUDIENCES: An important aspect of food security is accountability and transparency across the supply chain of any food product. In order to create this accountability and transparency, traceability technology needs to be utilized within these food supply chains. Some food distribution companies, farmers, and producers are aware of the existence of traceability technology and its importance; however many are not. Companies and farmers who have traceability technology implemented into their systems have a distinct advantage over their competitors in terms of public perception, as well as the ability to sell their food (and food-related products) in additional markets (including across state borders). Many South Carolina farmers and value-added producers face an uphill battle in an attempt to compete with their peers both within the state of South Carolina, as well as their peers from other states. The farmers and producers who are at a disadvantage span across economic and racial boundaries. The primary source of the problem is the inability of these farmers and value-added producers to trace their food products as they move throughout their food supply chains. To achieve this requires the use of traceability technology, such as RFID. A lack of knowledge of the technology, understanding how to use the technology, and the costs of the technology are all hindrances that these groups must overcome. Proper implementation and usage of this technology is also an important aspect in allowing the attainment of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certification. Attainment of this certification can consequently increase the number of potential customers for these farmers and producers and therefore create a more level field of competition. One aspect of this pilot project is to provide an extension opportunity to help the participating South Carolina farmers to purchase, implement, and utilize the RFID equipment and software necessary to provide traceability throughout their food product supply chains. This extension work is providing training to these farmers in how to use the technology, as well as allow for this training to be put into practice. Participating farmers are being allowed to handle and operate the traceability technology that is being used in this research which includes RFID tags, RFID readers, and the AssetGather database. The instruction that is being provided to the farmers is informal and occurs within the farmer's work environment. In the same way, the practice in using the technology is taking place within the regular work environment for the farmer. The results of this project will be used to determine the ability to enable the tracing of items (that are produced and sold by farmers) as those items travel through the farmers' supply chains. Of course, in order to do this, it is necessary to provide similar RFID technology, implementation, and training for all farmers. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The primary resources that are being utilized within this research are the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) readers, RFID tags, and RFID Asset Gather Database. Effective utilization of this traceability technology within the research environment (farm and supply chain) requires the presence of strong and consistent wireless internet capabilities. Engineers from AssetPulse (an asset-tracking solution company) have partnered with us within this research project to design a complete, customizable RFID-based asset tracking software solution. The purpose of this solution is to enable the forward and reverse tracking of the critical assets (vegetables and other produce such as sweet potatoes) that are grown by the farmers and travel through the farmers' supply chain. The AssetGather software that is being used for the management of the data supplied by the RFID equipment was initially placed physically on a laptop computer to be used by the farmers. The design of the software requires that an Internet Protocol (IP) address is assigned directly to it. The computer then recognizes the software by means of this associated IP address. A local IP address was assigned; however, difficulties arose in the process of trying to enable the software to be made usable by the farmers. Because of this, two other methods were attempted in order to enable the AssetGather software to be used by the participating farmers. They included the following: 1) The use of a public IP address rather than the previous local IP address and 2) The creation of a unique web address or uniform resource locator (URL) specifically to be used by the AssetGather software Both of these methods were unsuccessful in enabling the software to be accessible anywhere away from the university's campus. The primary cause of this difficulty was the inability to send information through the university's firewall. A third alternative was proposed. This alternative required that the AssetGather Database was placed on a cloud server rather than on a computer. This alternative was successfully implemented; therefore, the software was removed from the computer and placed in a web-based storage server hosted by AssetPulse. This allowed the server to be accessed through a computer anywhere an internet connection (direct or wireless) was available. The research is also finding that the presence of a consistently-strong wireless internet service located around the farm is critical to effective RFID food tracking. Therefore, the absence of wireless internet service is a potential obstacle in preventing traceability on farm supply chains. This is significant because many farms do not have wireless internet capabilities. When looking to duplicate and extrapolate the findings from this study to other food supply chains, the presence of wireless internet service must be considered. Even in situations in which strong consistent wireless internet capabilities are available, things can occur which diminish the strength of the internet signal. Diminished or fluctuating internet service may also be a hindrance to RFID tracking activities.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/11 to 12/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: During this time period, I was able to present to the Sumter (South Carolina) Organic Farmers Co-Op meeting. The presentation introduced the attending farmers to the presence of Radio Frequency Identification Technology (RFID), its potential uses in agriculture/food safety, its potential benefits to the general population, and its potential benefits to the farmers themselves. The presentation was also used to advance the knowledge of the ability and responsibility that farmers have in protecting the general public by implementing good food safety practices. PARTICIPANTS: The participants in this project Dr. Samule Littlejohn (PI) and Azeez Mustafa who is a minority organic farmer residing in Sumter. South Carolina and Asset Pulse (an RFID solution company). TARGET AUDIENCES: An important aspect of food security is accountability and transparency across the supply chain of any food product. In order to create this accountability and transparency, traceability technology needs to be utilized within these food supply chains. Some food distribution companies, farmers, and producers are aware of the existence of traceability technology and its importance. However many are not. Companies and farmers who have traceability technology implemented into their systems have a distinct advantage over their competitors in terms of public perception, as well as the ability to sell their food (and food related products) in additional markets (including across state borders). Many South Carolina farmers and value-added producers face an uphill battle in an attempt to compete with their peers both within the state of South Carolina, as well as their peers from other states. The farmers and producers are at a disadvantage-span across economic and racial boundaries. The primary source of the problem is the inability of these farmers and value-added producers to trace their food products as they move throughout their food supply chains. To do this requires the use of traceability technology such as RFID. A lack of knowledge of the technology, understanding how to use the technology, and the costs of the technology are all hindrances that these groups must overcome. Proper implementation and the usage of this technology are also an important aspect in allowing the attainment of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certification. Attainment of this certification can consequently increase the number of potential customers for these farmers and producers, therefore creating a more level field of competition. This pilot project proposes to help selected South Carolina farmers/value-added producers to purchase, to implement, and to utilize the RFID equipment necessary to provide traceability throughout their food product supply chains. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: During the period of June 2011 and December 2011, uncontrollable occurrences arose that have lead to modifications in the projected timeline for events in this project. Delays have been made in the ordering process for all of the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) lab equipment and farmer participant equipment. During June and July, there was an unexpected freeze on the account for this research project. This freeze hindered the ability to place orders for the required items for project initialization and maturity. The freeze was lifted before the end of the summer. Due to the cost of the required equipment, alterations had to be made to the originally planned order. University and government procurement regulations dictated that the proposed orders of RFID equipment were sent through a bidding process. This bidding process was not projected in the originally proposed timeline of events. Therefore, the time required for initialization and completion of this bidding process has altered the projects goals and objectives for this year. The initial order for necessary equipment is currently being processed to be sent to the university
Impacts
The president of the Sumter Co-op of Organic Farmers has volunteered to partner with me in this research project. The establishment of this partnership will allow for the determination of the feasibility and potential impact of traceability technology utilization within small farmer supply chains. The result of this impact has potential ramifications locally, statewide, nationally, and globally. Through participation in this pilot project, the farmer will 1) gain a knowledge of the importance of food handling safety, 2) learn practical information for transforming his small business (farms) into more secure food enterprises, 3) work towards attaining GAP certification, and 4) begin to use traceability technology (which can be a fundamental component in the process of creating a secure food supply chain). This benefit protects the farmers by enhancing the value of their product with their customers being beneficiaries as well in that they are provided with a safer food supply.
Publications
- South Carolina Food Safety through Traceability Technology, Professional Agricultural Workers Conference Proceedings (2012)
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