New research from Hutchinsons shows that UK farmers are extensively using digital technology to help them run their businesses.
The results were showcased at the company’s Connected Farming Technology Conference, at the start of December.
Head of marketing, Nick Rainsley, explained the reasoning behind this extensive research was to better understand where farmers are on their digital journey.
It covered 200 growers, with a mix of farms above 100ha, including arable only, mixed farms and livestock.
“The research lends weight to the role digital technology is going to play in the future of UK farming. Half of the farms researched said digital technology was going to be of increasing importance in farming and this rose to nearly two-thirds among the largest farms,” said Nick.
“A large majority see data-driven decision making as important in the future. Nearly two thirds ranked it six or more out of 10 – with 10 being the highest importance.
“With an increasing array of tools and solutions being used, particularly weather-related apps and even generic tools such as What3Words, it was unsurprising the research suggested a whopping 72% of farmers believed climate change and weather considerations were the biggest challenges facing farming.”
More than half of those surveyed cited that the additional cost of digital technology was a challenge, combined with end market prices and overall profitability.
“Of the current tools in use, 76% of respondents said they were using auto-steer with around 40% adopting variable-rate technology for fertiliser applications and seed drilling. A smaller proportion, 21%, used variable-rate applications for spraying.
“More than a third said they use digital technology for soil management, environmental and carbon accounting, disease monitoring and stock-taking/recording. Almost half told us that digital technology would help them meet the growing challenges of compliance and more environmentally focused production.
“Whilst these technologies have been around for a while, we shouldn’t be surprised that their adoption is increasingly popular when the environment and also cost drivers are taken into consideration,” he said.
Barriers to adoption included cost and uncertain return on investment, while for larger farms, the integration between different systems was noted as a pain point.
But growers are getting to grips with the technology, with 77% ranking themselves as a five or above (out of 10) when it came to their confidence with using technology.
“The pandemic possibly accelerated people’s confidence. For such a large percentage to feel reasonably comfortable with the technology is very positive.
“However we should be mindful that nearly a third felt they were insufficiently aware of what was available, and around 20% said lack of time, insufficient training, or lack of technical support were barriers.”
