Ag Tech Sunday - Technology is coming into farming which is going to change farming forever

This article is bought to you by Fleming Contracting and Reading Transport.

By Sam Watson Jones - Co-Founder at Small Robot Company

Technology is coming into farming which is going to change farming forever.

It will change the way we think about our farms and it will change the role of the farmer. This is an inevitable consequence of the fact that the farming system we are currently operating is broken beyond repair.

Transformative technology and transformative change will arrive because the alternative is that farms cease to exist.

Even though most of the farmers we speak to know that change is necessary, the idea of change can still be scary. But it need not be this way...

New technology means new opportunities. You will be able to achieve things with your career that were completely out of reach to previous generations. You will be able to do more, travel further and have a greater impact through the course of your career than has ever been possible for a farmer.

Some of these technologies are things like robotics and artificial intelligence, which are yet to be widely available in the marketplace.

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However, many technologies which are already widely available have enabled a change in what is possible. For example, it is much easier, cheaper and faster to automate or outsource tasks than it was previously. If you choose to, you could today; hire a remote bookeeper, a virtual assistant or join a virtual network of advisers.

It is easier to connect with other farmers who are struggling with the same questions as you, it is easier to connect with a marketplace, it is easier to make your dreams a reality.

In my conversations with farmers, it feels like a mindset shift is already underway. For a long time, many have seen the farming industry as one of shrinking opportunity, in which it is always getting harder to keep a business going. But the conversations seem to be changing, and people are looking towards a future which is full of potential with a greater sense of optimism.

The way we think about ourselves and the challenges we face is hugely significant, as is the networks that we surround ourselves with. In the example I used above of my conversations with farmers, I have illustrated that having positive conversations has in turn instilled a greater sense of positivity in my own outlook and this becomes a self-perpetuating cycle.

When we think about technology in the right way, we see it as a source of empowerment, rather than as a threat. If we surround ourselves with other people who also see technology as a source of opportunity, we are in turn more likely to see the opportunities and take advantage of them.

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In the Farm Ambition Blueprint, this positive and supportive network is one of the key benefits we are creating. In our quarterly workshops, you will be surrounded by other farmers asking themselves the same questions and grappling with the same issues. You may have different farms and be different ages but you will share a mindset which is open and engaged in creating a better future for yourself and for those around you.

As a result of the positive conversations you are having with others, the conversations you have with yourself will become more positive.

In the past, you asked yourself;

"How can I make the right decisions to keep this farm going?"

This is a question rooted in fear.

In the future, the most ambitious farmers will ask themselves;

"How far can I really go?"

If you really had the freedom to choose, what is the biggest impact that you would want your career to have?

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