PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to critically evaluate the applicability of bio certification in farmers' activity to reduce unfair trading practices in the food supply chain. The secondary purposes are describing the economic reasons of using bio certification and perspectives of using web trading platforms among food producers.Design/methodology/approachData collection included face-to-face interviews with 15 Austrian and German farmers who operate on bio food markets as well as a quantitative survey regarding their assessment of unfair trading practices. This study presents both quantitative and qualitative analyses.FindingsBio certification is more likely unable to eliminate or mitigate unfair trading practices in the food supply chain, however bio certification is able to increase efficiency of farmers together with other web tools.Originality/valueThe study is the first to empirically investigate the applicability of bio certifications, its advantages and impact on unfair trading practices in the food supply chain. It focuses on small and medium-sized food producers and farmers. The research also reveals the perspectives of using web trading platforms in farming activity.

The control of climatic conditions where cattle are kept is one of the challenges in the livestock sector regarding the digital automation of the process. (1) Background: The main purpose of this study is to define the optimal foundations for automatic climatic systems in organic and energy-sustainable livestock production. In particular, the following components are suggested: (a) the determination of current deviations and interdependency between factors; (b) an algorithm for defining the possible sources of regulation; (c) the ranking approach of the optimal sequence of possible sources; and (d) ensuring transparency and coordination of the model with organic and energy certificates. (2) Methods: This investigation accumulates information on the characteristics of the main microclimatic parameters and simulates their possible combinations in a livestock building in Poland within 24 h of a spring day. A few indices are considered that signal the impact on the thermal comfort of cattle based on the example of recommended measures for the Angus steer genotype. (3) Results: The proposed transparent algorithm is designed for selecting and ranking potential sources of microclimate control according to three criteria. (4) Conclusions: This paper potentially contributes to determining the most optimal digital algorithm for managing microclimate conditions to ensure acceptable comfort for animals, meeting the requirements of organic certification with minimum costs of production, and switching to sustainable types of energy with consideration of technologies’ efficiency. The algorithm is scalable and adjustable to the individual conditions of any livestock premise with a digitally controlled environment.

No abstract

The surge in the development of the organic food movement is in response to mass industrial food production, prioritizing productivity and economic profit across the global food supply chain, the cost of individual human health, the nutritional value of products, environmental degradation, and climate change. In recent decades, bio-certified food has become especially important to farmers, consumers, and policymakers as a viable transition away from high-input, intensive farming methods to a more humane and sustainable food system. However, to create value and a point of distinction in the marketplace, a robust and valid operation system to verify organic standards throughout the supply chain is of utmost importance. In this study, we conducted two separate surveys. The first survey targeted active organic farmers from three countries. Based on the data obtained, we confirm, similar to other investigations, that the current system of bio-certification is not reliable with a certain degree of probability. The second survey consulted highly specialized experts in organic systems from around the world to identify how the bio certification system should be transformed. The results indicated that the average probability of unregistered violations can be 35.4% according to self-reporting by organic farmers. This together with results that found that 96.12% of experts believe that the organic certification procedure needs to change provides increasing evidence and justification for an overhaul of the certification system.

No abstract