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Farmers want more transparency from ag data providers

A new Farm Bureau survey indicates farmers want more transparency from ag data providers.

Senior director of congressional relations Mary Kay Thatcher says of the 400 farmers and ranchers that participated, more than half did not know who controlled their data.

Because of that, AFBF created the Ag Data Transparency Evaluator.

“Where fairly easily a farmer can get on the website and look at whichever company they’re considering doing business with.  That company will have answered (on the website) nine questions very clearly; questions like ‘are you going to ask me before you sell or share my data?’ If you go out of business, am I going to be able to get my data back?”

The survey also revealed that 77 percent of respondents are concerned about which entities can access their data and whether it can be used for regulatory purposes.

“Especially (if) the Environmental Protection Agency gets that data, and potentially turns around and uses it against (the farmer).  So they’re not very happy about having the government have all their data.”

And Thatcher tells Brownfield more than 60 percent of farmers polled are worried companies could use their data to influence market decisions.