Farming in 2020 and beyond will require ag technology access

Small United States agricultural businesses face structural disadvantages when they compete against larger production systems that favor economies of scale, testified Douglas Jackson-Smith, professor and assistant director of the School of Environment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University.

And yet, changes in consumer preferences, expanding markets for food products, and cutting-edge tech innovations can reinvigorate small businesses in rural America—with strategic public and private investments that can bring that technology to more businesses and communities, he added.

This was part of the testimony heard by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business Subcommittee on Innovation and Workforce Development at its hearing, “Farming in the 21st Century: The Impacts of Agriculture Technology in Rural America” Jan. 9.

The committee heard from industry experts and innovators, including: Jackson-Smith; David Potere, head of GeoInnovation, Indigo Agriculture; Roberto Meza, co-founder and farmer, Emerald Gardens; and Kevin France, president and CEO, SWIIM System, Ltd.

While there technological innovations can improve performance of diversified farms, connect farms and emerging markets, and expand opportunities for small businesses throughout the supply chain, context matters, testified Jackson-Smith.

“For decades, the dominant thrust of innovation and technical change in the U.S. farm and food sector has largely focused on specialized commodity production that tends to be vertically integrated in global supply chains,” wrote Jackson-Smith. And yet, there’s a “scale bias” in the design and adoption of many of the new technologies that tends to leave small businesses behind because they’re priced out of the technology.

One such example is that there has been a recent rise in operators of small and medium-sized farms seeking tractors from the 1970s and 1980s that don’t have extensive computer components because they can still do their own maintenance on that equipment. As Jackson-Smith testified, the technology advancements in equipment are targeted to larger farms that can spread the cost of the technology across a larger number of acres.

Potere and Jackson-Smith both explained technology is a win-win for growers and consumers. Technology can help farmers use data to make better decisions and capture market opportunities—no one debates that fact.

“It can help farmers apply less inputs, to farm more profitably, grow more healthy food and be paid a premium,” Potere testified. “So, why haven’t we seen the transition? If it was that compelling, why only 2 to 4% of all American farmers doing this? The barrier is risk and know-how. It’s risky to change the business model. Conventional farming is understood.”

Part of the challenge is that innovation comes from the private sector, and infrastructure investment in rural America doesn’t make sense to a company like Verizon because there’s not enough customers per square mile, Jackson-Smith testified. And yet, there’s a benefit to society to have farmers use technology to raise food at lower costs and with less inputs. There’s a benefit to using tech to train the new generation of rural workforce and more.

Much of the technology debate centers around access to high speed broadband service in rural America. Potere explained that Indigo has had to build its apps to be resilient to a lack of connectivity because of gaps in broadband access. 

“We’ve had to build mobile technology for farmers to validate the work on their farm, in order for buyers to pay a premium,” Potere explained. And in many cases, instead of being able to use real-time connectivity to upload data from a farmer or agronomist in the field, there’s a lag in response time because of lags in uploads. That means a missed opportunity for farmers, he testified.

“We have a one-way street, where we build apps resilient and able to log a bunch of data in the field, and then once the farmer is back near broadband, the information is dumped out to Indigo servers,” he explained. 

“If farmers were to be paid for meeting market demands uniquely, for ecosystem services, or for additional benefits such as more nutritious crops, then soil health and food production could be enhanced together,” Potere wrote in his testimony. “Doing so will create more opportunities for small and mid-sized businesses across Rural America and just might help revitalize the rural economy in the process. It’s a solution whose time has come.”

Watch the full hearing below.

Jennifer M. Latzke can be reached at 620-227-1807 or [email protected].