Supply shed
A supply shed is the geographic area from which a facility, such as a mill, warehouse or buying station, or a company sources a commodity. It is typically estimated from supplier locations or travel distance and used for landscape-level risk analysis when plot-level data is incomplete.
Also known as: sourcing area · catchment area · supply base · sourcing landscape
Why does it matter?
Before a company knows every plot, it can still know roughly where its commodity comes from. Supply shed analysis shows which landscapes carry deforestation, protected-area or social risk, and where to invest in mapping, monitoring or landscape programmes.
For palm oil, the supply shed of a mill is common because fresh fruit bunches must be processed quickly and travel limited distances. For cocoa, coffee or rubber, supply sheds are often built around cooperatives, warehouses or buying centres.
How does it work in practice?
- Locate facilities and known supplier plots.
- Estimate the sourcing area with distance, travel time or observed supplier locations.
- Overlay forest baselines, satellite alerts, protected areas and social data.
- Prioritise areas for plot-level mapping and first-mile traceability.
Common pitfalls
- Treating a supply shed as proof of origin. Commodities travel through intermediaries across wide areas.
- Static supply sheds that ignore seasonal sourcing and side-selling.
- Radius-based sheds that include land where the crop is not grown.
Farmer1st moves companies from supply-shed estimates to plot-level evidence through its geo and polygons service.
Frequently asked questions
Is a supply shed enough for EUDR compliance?
No. The EUDR requires the geolocation of all plots of land where the commodities were produced. Supply shed analysis can help prioritise where to map and monitor, but it does not replace plot geolocation.
How is a supply shed drawn?
Common approaches use the known locations of supplying farms, a travel-time or distance radius around a facility, or trade flows between districts. Each assumption should be documented.
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