Ag Tech Sunday - The elephant in the room with Ag Tech

By: "Farm Tender" News
Ag Company News
Jul 06, 2019
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By Georgia Pugh - Principal Advisor at AgThentic.

When I was a little girl working on the family farm, I used to always say that I wanted to be a “Lady Farmer” when I grew up. I believed, and still do, that farmers growing crops and running livestock to feed and clothe the ever growing world population was just the coolest thing. I also often saw opportunities for modernisation and use of technology to help farmers achieve this goal. So I went on to study Agricultural Science to learn more, and today, I am excited to be working as part of the team here at AgThentic!

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So why am I here? I get agriculture and farming, but what I am excited to learn more about, and want to help foster the growth and effective adoption of, is agtech. I want to use what I do know about agriculture to help bridge the gap between agtech and agriculture. There are so many new technologies out there and many more rapidly emerging. For example: virtual fences for beef cattle; near infrared grain quality analyzers; robotic weeding solutions; farm and livestock management software; and livestock facial recognition software. I feel my practical knowledge of farming systems and my links to them will help me recognise a good idea when I see one.

What I am seeing so far is exciting. I can see that farmers and entrepreneurs are both passionate about agriculture and contributing towards the growing (and eating!) of more sustainably grown food. This is a common goal and shared reason for getting out of bed in the morning. Working towards the same goal from different sides of the fence should be easy right?

The elephant in the room

If agtech companies want to help farmers, why is there so much skepticism about agtech in agriculture? Based on my experience, farmers and the corporate businesses I have worked for stay clear of startups and approach agtech with caution because they are a risky unknown.

There is an elephant in the room here: agtech’s bad reputation in the farming community.

In my view, this has been driven by some agtech in the past being either:

* pushed out into the market when it’s not quite ready;

* failing to deliver on what was promised; and/or

* not being clear enough about the fact that the product is not quite ready.

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Perhaps it is also because the average age of a farmer in Australia is 57 and the older farmers may need help to understand, or have things explained differently, to see the benefits of agtech.

Or finally, it may be because there is a lot of noise about agtech that most farmers struggle to find the time to wade through. It takes time, time that farmers cannot afford to waste, to spend on technologies that might fail to deliver on what was promised.

No matter the reason, we need to acknowledge this elephant in the room. And then move on together.

So what is the solution? Having sat on both sides of the fence, here are a few of my tips for both farmers and agtech to help sides work together better.
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Gain the farmers trust by jumping the fence

For a farmer to be interested in adopting an agtech product, the company needs to clearly define and quantify how the product will: decrease risk; increase profits; and/or reduce effort for the farmer. It’s easy to say this, but delivering on this is the challenge.

To help deliver on this, we can learn from the people that farmers trust and speak to the most when it comes to on-farm decision making: farm consultants, agronomists, and accountants. These trusted experts have put in the hard yards, by spending time with the farmer and working on their business, often from afar, to solve problems and put forward ideas and recommendations.

There is nothing my dad (who is still a farmer) loves more than taking me, or anyone else he trusts for advice, out of the office for the grand tour of the farm whenever I visit. He does this because he doesn’t want to sit in the office behind a computer making decisions (farmers aren’t often big fans of officework). He wants to get out and about to see things in action, to get me up to speed on what’s been happening, and get my opinion on some of the decisions that need to be made or problems to be solved. He also loves it when I call him up or email him with an idea to help solve those problems or just provide feedback.

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AgTech companies must earn the farmers trust for advice about new technologies, by doing the hard yards to help farmers keep above the noise, not just for your product, but for all things agtech. This can be done through a variety of channels, for example: your website; product marketing content; newsletters; blogs; social media; messaging; and any interactions with farmers such as at field days, demo farms, agricultural shows, and events.

Jumping on the agtech bandwagon

Farmers need to recognise that agtech is here to stay and acknowledge that the agtech industry is maturing. It’s beginning to walk-the-walk, rather than just talk-the-talk.

On my own family farm, there is a reluctance to adopt new technologies. We understand that there are all these amazing things out there, like: drones to check the livestock, water, and feed supplies; sensors to alert you of any water shortages; and farm management software to do the farm pasture and livestock management logistics for you. However, we still haven’t jumped on the bandwagon because we are still not certain that these technologies will do the job any better than we can.

There is still hope however, as long as the benefits of the agtech are clear, practical and relatable. For example with my father, his favourite new bit of technology at the moment is an electronic weather station. He’s realised that it means that he doesn’t have to get his feet wet like he used to, when checking the old rain gauge, and that it tells him more useful information than the old one to inform his decision making.

So what am I telling my family now to convince them further? Just spend time with, and using, agtech. Go to the events and get your voice heard about the problems you are experiencing, as someone will be listening and will want to help. You’re not alone.

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Don’t be afraid of change and of taking a risk with agtech. Trust agtech to deliver on the promise over time, and be in it for the long run, just like your other trusted advisers. Things will become easier if everyone works together. It’s OK to take your time with making a decision. Communicate with the agtech provider and your farming network before deciding, and say no to the products that don’t stack up, just don’t back away from the opportunity to make things easier.

The modernisation of Agriculture

Taking a step back to look at the big picture, we can all give ourselves a big pat on the back. We’ve come a long way in a short time frame, from the likes of a young me dreaming about “Lady Farmers” and the days where farm work had to be done without technology.

Today, the proportion of Australian farmers that are women has grown to one-third, and we are witnessing the emergence of a more mature agtech ecosystem, where startups are sprouting out of every corner and farmers are thinking about, or have at least heard of, IoT, precision agriculture, and machine learning. Things may not be perfect yet, but sit tight and strap yourselves in- agtech is here to stay and everyone, even older farmers, need inspiration and motivation from new technologies.

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