Five companies have now agreed to take part in the HGCA-funded eGrain passport pilot project which will begin live trials pre-harvest.

The £250,000 eGrain passport pilot, which follows widespread industry consultation, is looking at the feasibility of moving the current paper grain passport system online.

Muntons, Gleadell and Openfield have agreed to become pilot participants for the malting barley supply chain, while Heygates and Glencore will be the pilot participants for the milling wheat supply chain.

They will be working with IT supplier F4F which has been contracted to build the online platform.

The pilot will run for 12 months from April 2014, and will produce recommendations on whether the electronic passport should be rolled out nationally, and what modifications or enhancements might be needed to do so.

Jonathan Tipples, Chair of the eGrain passport Steering Group said: “Since last April, a great deal of work has been done with the industry to get the project to this stage. We are now in a good position to start to build the necessary IT structure and work with the existing IT capability of the participants to test the concept of an electronic passport in fast-moving and complex commercial situations.

“The pilot will help the industry establish the real costs and benefits to all grain businesses –large and small - in adopting an electronic passport. It will also investigate if it will result in a better environment for the smoother flow of two way information between farmers, merchants and processors.”

The project will be overseen by a steering group comprising representatives from the Agricultural Industries Confederation (AIC), The Maltsters Association of Great Britain (MAGB), the National Association of British and Irish Millers (nabim), the National Farmers Union (NFU) and the National Farmers Union of Scotland (NFUS) and the Road Haulage Association (RHA).