Published on Feb 21, 2024 blog
Circular supply chains in agriculture focus on creating sustainable, regenerative systems that minimize waste, promote resource efficiency, and foster environmental responsibility. By reimagining traditional linear models, where resources are extracted, used, and discarded, circular systems aim to close the loop in the agricultural supply chain by minimizing waste and optimizing resource utilization.
Closed-loop supply chains are important for creating a more resilient and responsible approach to food production. They address the interconnected challenges of resource depletion, environmental degradation, and economic inefficiency in agriculture.
Circular agriculture emphasizes closed-loop economic practices where resources are recycled or reused instead of being discarded. Waste from one stage of the supply chain becomes a resource for another stage, creating circular use patterns.
For example, instead of allowing agricultural crop residue to go to a landfill, it can be converted into compost and then used to improve the soil’s physical, biological, and chemical properties, provide organic nutrients, or reduce weed germination. The residue could also be turned into bioenergy to produce transportation fuels, heat, and electricity instead of being discarded.
Circular supply chains prioritize the efficient use of highly consumed resources needed for food production, including energy, water, and chemical fertilizers. Farmers can optimize resource utilization by implementing technologies and practices like precision farming, drip irrigation, and organic farming methods.
When they implement cutting-edge technologies, farmers are better equipped to make informed decisions, optimize their resource use, minimize product loss, and reduce environmental impacts.
For example, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors can provide real-time data on weather, soil moisture levels, and crop health. Farmers can use this information to optimize irrigation, fertilization, and pest control, resulting in higher crop yields and resource efficiency.
Photo Credit: Prem Rajak, Abhratanu Ganguly, Satadal Adhikary, Suchandra Bhattacharya, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Advanced technologies such as the prescriptive data analytics in our Betafeld’s innovative technology (MatLoop) can optimize operations, moving foods between farms and buyers in the most efficient manner possible regarding price and carbon-equivalent emission reduction. In particular, the optimization engine will support farm-buyer matching, storage, shipment scheduling, and routing decisions with shipment consolidation.
The transportation and storage of agricultural products have a significant environmental footprint. According to Foodwise, meals in the United States travel approximately 1,500 miles to get from farm to plate. This distance is equivalent to driving from Los Angeles to Houston and consumes a large amount of fossil fuels.
Encouraging local and decentralized production can reduce the environmental footprint associated with transportation and storage. This involves supporting local farmers and creating networks that connect producers with consumers in the same region.
Circular supply chains often embrace regenerative agricultural practices that focus on restoring soil health, enhancing ecosystem services, and sequestering carbon. At the very core of the holistic land management philosophy is the concept of farming and ranching in harmony with nature.
Practices like cover cropping, no-till farming, and rotational grazing contribute to soil fertility and sustainability. Regenerative farmers generally limit soil disturbance, instead feeding and preserving the biological structures that fungi, bacteria, and other soil microbes build underground.
Approximately 90% of the worldwide biodiversity pressure stems from the food, energy, textile, and construction sectors. This pressure occurs because more than 50% of the global gross domestic product is dependent on the natural environment and its services.
Circular supply chains in agriculture aim to enhance biodiversity by promoting crop diversity, integrating agroforestry practices, and creating environments that support a variety of plant and animal species. By design, in circular agriculture, waste and pollution are typically eliminated or significantly reduced, minimizing the direct threats to wildlife and native plant populations.
In order to achieve circular supply chains, it requires collaboration among the stakeholders involved: farmers, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers. By engaging all of the participants in the supply chain, it ensures a holistic approach to sustainability.
The benefits of embracing circular supply chains in agriculture are multifaceted, ranging from enhanced resource efficiency and reduced environmental impact to improved economic viability and community development.
Through the creation of MatLoop, we are thinking big to help transform the current linear agriculture economy model into a circular supply chain. Our cutting-edge platform connects farmers with surplus and aesthetically imperfect produce to bioproduct companies looking to buy raw materials, lessening the farm-level food waste being directed to landfills.
MatLoop fills a gap where existing technologies fall short due to their limited capabilities regarding the facilitation of upcycling of farm-level food waste. Previous and existing online marketplaces allow for the posting, finding, and buying of imperfect and surplus food, but they do not optimize operations, making themselves ineffective.
MatLoop utilizes AI and mathematical optimization—a powerful prescriptive analytics engine—and addresses the complexity of optimizing transactions and operation logistics. Thus, it provides a revolutionary, vital tool for creating a modern, competitive economy and helping preserve the environment.
Betafeld envisions a landscape where farm produce is not wasted but transformed into valuable resources. Our commitment places sustainability at the forefront of agricultural practices, ushering in a new era of resilient, responsible, and efficient food management.
