What data TRACE needs from your farm

One of the most common concerns from cooperatives is that digital traceability will require expensive new equipment or complex data entry. In practice, TRACE is designed around the data that already exists on a well-run farm — the challenge is simply moving it from notebooks and spreadsheets into a form the system can use.

There are three categories of data TRACE needs:

• Farm location (GPS coordinates). This is the single most important data point. EU regulations require proof that the farm is not in a deforested area. A GPS coordinate linked to a deforestation-risk database provides that proof automatically. Most smartphones can generate this in seconds.
• Pesticide application records. What was applied, in what quantity, and on what date. The EU has maximum residue limits (MRLs) for each pesticide. TRACE checks your records against those limits and flags any exceedance before the shipment leaves.
• Soil and environmental readings. Basic indicators like soil moisture and any fertiliser application. These support broader sustainability claims and will become more important as DPP requirements expand.
• Cold-chain temperatures. For avocados and some horticultural products, the temperature inside the refrigerated truck must stay within a safe range throughout transport. A small, inexpensive sensor logs this automatically throughout the journey.
• Cooperative and exporter identifiers. Which cooperative aggregated the batch, and which licensed exporter is responsible for the shipment. These link the farm-level data to the consignment-level record.

For a pilot, TRACE can work with data entered manually through a simple web form on a phone or laptop. As the system matures, it can connect directly to farm management software or IoT sensors, reducing the data entry burden to near zero.

The key shift is not technical — it is the habit of recording things digitally at the time they happen, rather than reconstructing them later for an audit.