The Technology

What is Silverleafe Cotton Tracing?

How Chain of Custody is Essential to Cotton Traceability

The 'chain of custody' involves detailed documentation and tracking of products from their origin in the fields through each step of the supply chain to the final consumer. This process is crucial for verifying traceability and authenticity, ensuring that products adhere to specific standards or certifications throughout their journey. Detailed tracking prevents fraud by preventing the mixing of non-certified with certified batches and supports claims of ethical sourcing. Furthermore, it provides consumers with the assurance that the products they purchase are ethically produced and traceable back to their source.

A well-defined chain of custody in cotton production typically involves several key components:

1. Identification and Tagging: Each batch of cotton is clearly identified and tagged at the source, such as at the time of harvesting.
2. Documentation: Every transfer of cotton from one party to another (e.g., from farmers to ginners, from ginners to manufacturers, and from manufacturers to retailers) is documented. This documentation includes details such as the quantity of cotton, the date of transfer, and the parties involved.
3. Verification: At each stage of the supply chain, the cotton is verified to ensure it remains consistent with the certification or standards claimed (e.g., organic, fair trade, or conflict-free).
4. Audit and Compliance: Periodic audits are conducted by third parties to ensure that all parties in the supply chain comply with the required standards and that the documentation accurately reflects the physical flow of cotton.

The chain of custody is essential for ensuring transparency and accountability in cotton production. It helps in preventing fraud, such as the mixing of non-certified cotton with certified batches, and supports claims related to ethical sourcing, such as cotton that is free from forced or child labor. It also provides consumers with assurance that the products they purchase are ethically produced and traceable back to their field of origin. (fields of origin).

Why Machine-Harvested Cotton Matters

Globally, around 70% of cotton is picked by hand, and 30% by machines. Manual harvesting presents a higher risk of human rights abuses due to the use of temporary, seasonal labor, which is prone to coercion and forced labor. Many cotton-producing countries face significant human rights challenges during harvest season, leading to the entry of "conflicted" cotton into the global textile supply chain. Increased awareness by consumers and human rights activists has pressured global brands and governments to scrutinize the origins of cotton and potential rights violations more closely. Brands urgently need a reliable method to trace and manage the origins of cotton in their supply chains.

Textile manufacturers struggle to verify the source of their cotton. Cotton that is ethically harvested is physically indistinguishable from cotton harvested through child or forced labor. The industry requires a solution that can track cotton throughout the production process and trace it back to its origin. At Silverleafe Cotton Tracing, we ensure the continuity of custody for cotton we certify as machine-harvested, providing a comprehensive record that traces each batch from its origin to its final destination. This is achieved through our Digital Ag Track & Trace solution (DATT), which offers a reliable, transparent chain of custody critical for ethical cotton production.

How does Digital Track and Trace DATT Technology Work?

Our Digital Ag Track & Trace (DATT) solution provides meticulous tracking of cotton from the field to the finished product, ensuring each step of the journey is recorded and verified. By employing RFID technology and a sophisticated chain of custody model, we generate a comprehensive digital birth certificate for each batch of cotton. This digital birth certificate includes crucial origin data, collected using our patent-pending Silverleafe Cotton Tracing technology before and during the harvest.

This certificate serves as a pivotal tool for textile manufacturers and leading brands, allowing them to verify the type of cotton used in their products. It ensures that after cotton is harvested, its journey through the textile production process is continuously documented, giving manufacturers clear visibility into its origins and path through the supply chain. This transparency is vital for brands committed to ethical sourcing and consumers who demand accountability in their products.

Digital Traceability

Silverleafe Cotton Tracing's Digital Verification process is a cornerstone of our technology suite. This feature ensures that all cotton registered in our system is machine-harvested, thereby adhering to the highest global ethical standards. By using our proprietary agro technology and advanced RFID technology and real-time data analytics, our system can instantly verify the harvesting methods, ensuring that only cotton harvested by mechanical means is certified. This verification process helps eliminate any cotton sourced through unethical practices, thus supporting sustainability and ethical sourcing across the global textile industry.

When a cotton producer purchases a bale of cotton, they can scan the unique ID attached to the bale of digitally verified machine-harvested cotton. This action grants them access to the cotton's Digital Cotton Custody Passport (also known as the Global Cotton Trace Key), which includes its digital birth certificate.

Cotton producers purchasing cotton harvested using the DATT technology can digitally track their cotton back to its farm of origin and follow its journey from the gin to the textile mill. This system ensures that every participant in the supply chain—from farmers to fashion brands—has complete visibility and traceability, reinforcing commitments to ethical sourcing and consumer trust.

Human Rights Compliance

The cotton industry's dependency on exploitative labor practices is unacceptable and must change. At the core of the Silverleafe Cotton Tracing solution is our commitment to providing ethically sourced cotton. We ensure that every batch of cotton has a verifiable supply chain history, free from human rights violations.

Our Digital Ag Track & Trace (DATT) system not only certifies that the origins of cotton are ethically sourced and devoid of human rights abuses but also enables brands to verify if their cotton has been mixed with other sources after harvest. Our commitment is to equip the textile industry with cotton that is digitally verified and machine-harvested, promoting transparency from the field to fashion.

Our mission is transformative: we aim to change lives, not just industry practices. Each thread produced within our supply chain stands as a beacon of dignity and fairness, contributing to a global textile industry that upholds human rights and enhances the well-being of every community it touches.

Through our patented technology, we precisely verify the origins of each cotton batch, meticulously tracking it from the cotton pickers through to the ginning and textile mills, and ultimately to the finished product. This ensures that every piece of cotton fabric is ethically sound, bolstering confidence in the products made from our cotton.

Audit Ready Digital Birth Certificate

Our Digital Traceability feature provides a Digital Birth Certificate for each batch of cotton processed through our system. This certificate serves as a digital chain of custody, documenting every step of the cotton's journey from the field to the factory. It records detailed information such as the cotton's origin through a geospatial footprint, harvest date, ginning process, and transportation details. This meticulous level of detail ensures complete transparency and traceability, allowing brands to confidently assure their customers that the products they purchase are ethically sourced.

Silverleafe Cotton Tracing further enhances the reliability and efficiency of conducting audits with our Audit Enablement feature. We provide independent auditors with real-time access to detailed evidence of the cotton’s journey, enabling thorough verification of both traceability and integrity. Our platform is designed to organize and present all necessary documentation in a structured, easy-to-navigate format, which facilitates efficient audit processes. This capability not only aids in complying with international regulatory standards but also significantly boosts consumer trust in brands that utilize our certified cotton.

How Does Silverleafe Cotton Tracing Impact Sustainability and the Environment?

Enhancing Cotton Harvesting with Precision Technology

In terms of labor practices, the traditional methods involving forced and child labor are neither ethical nor sustainable. We advocate for increased mechanization in cotton harvesting, which improves efficiency and upholds human dignity within the global cotton industry. The yield data captured through our advanced technologies certifies that the cotton is machine-harvested and offers accurate yield mapping. This crucial data helps farmers identify low and high-yielding areas within their fields, pinpointing potential issues with soil health or irrigation practices.

The ongoing accumulation of this data year over year offers valuable digital insights into sustainable farming trends. Silverleafe Cotton Tracing collaborates with John Deere and utilizes their digital Operations Center software to further enhance this capability. Soon, once digital water flow devices become available, this integration will expand to include the capture of irrigation data.

Sustainability and environmental impact are complex, multifaceted issues that require precise management and measurement. Yield trends are essential for assessing the sustainability of local agricultural management practices, as they offer critical metrics that reflect the health of the agricultural system. Digital agricultural technology, which provides unprecedented control and insights, is the most reliable tool for modern agricultural production management. We continuously develop and refine yield maps and other tools, integrating these technologies to foster measurable, sustainable farming practices that enhance crop yields, improve soil health, and promote water conservation.