Farming goes hi-tech

AGRICULTURE is on the cusp of a technology revolution that will overhaul the sector, making it easier to reconcile sustainability with better food production. According to a report by NFU Mutual, farmers have an unprecedented number of ground-breaking tools at their disposal. For example, says the company’s technology specialist Charlie Yorke, they can now attach sensors to a quadbike and map a field as they drive through it, gaining information on soil health, quality, textures and nutrients. This helps them to optimise planting, as well as preventing degradation.

Many people have already embraced variable application rates of chemicals, where, rather than bulk-spraying a field, they use the appropriate quantity for each area. Drones are becoming increasingly popular to identify specific places or plants to treat, but the next step, explains Mr Yorke, ‘is that technology companies are looking at introducing frozen chemicals so, when the frozen drop lands, the crop should have the right amount of nutrient, without chemical run-off’.

Fourth-generation farmer turned ‘tech-preneur’ Sam Watson Jones, of the Small Robot Company, says digitisation ‘entirely changes what’s possible. We are no longer shackled to the tractor and its limitations and can start to care for each plant individually’.

Interestingly, notes Mr Yorke, age doesn’t seem to be an insurmountable barrier to embracing change. ‘Even the oldest farmer I spoke to—i think he was in his late eighties—wasn’t against agri-tech. The younger generation is working with the older ones to engage with technology and make it a bit easier for them to adopt it.’ CP