There is a common saying around the industry that “Farmers are slow to adopt technology.” It’s a long standing perception and it’s linked to my last article on step verses incremental change. Step change is difficult.
But I do think this is used by companies to explain away slow adoption of their products to their investors. Ag tech as a whole, needs to look intrinsically if it feels this is really what is holding your solution back or is your approach holding your solution back?
The Year Long Problem
The perception that farmers are slow to adopt technology, in my view, largely stems from the seasonal nature of agriculture. In an industrial or automotive setting, implementing a new solution provides almost immediate feedback on its impact. However, in farming, results take an entire harvest cycle to materialise. When it comes to digital agronomy tools, additional variables like weather conditions must also be considered. This means the evaluation process can take years before confidence in a technology is fully established—something that many outside the industry might not fully appreciate.
Now, let’s consider some ag tech solutions that have been widely adopted, such as GPS guidance systems and boom section control. These provide instant feedback—farmers see right away that they’re not steering the tractor manually or that they’re reducing seed and chemical use on irregularly shaped fields. On the other hand, digital agronomy tools, like those designed to optimise nitrogen application, require much more time to assess. Farmers must wait until harvest to analyse yield data, then determine whether the results were influenced by factors like weather or specific management practices. Did the technology perform well only because it was a wet year? Would it work just as effectively in drier conditions? Should nitrogen be applied differently to maximise the tool’s benefits? Answering these questions takes time—sometimes years and sometimes isn’t even possible.
Ultimately, this long evaluation process isn’t a sign of slow technology adoption in agriculture—it’s simply a reflection of how the industry operates. If your product does not offer an immediate response on a farm then it is going to take a lot more explaining to farmers and they will see it’s use as a lot more risky or complicated.
What is your approach as an Ag Tech Company?
Now for the tough part—the moment when ag tech companies need to take a serious look inward if they believe farmers are slow to adopt new technology. The first question to ask is: how much time are you actually spending with farmers? How many farmers really know about your products and how many of them really understand them? Have you taken farmers on a journey of development or have you simply presented a solution.
From what I’ve seen, many ag tech companies focus heavily on those at the forefront of innovation—the early adopters. But if you truly want to scale your solution and move beyond the frustration of “farmers are slow to adopt technology,” you need to step outside that bubble. You need to be taking a lot more farmers on a journey with you. If you really think a farmer will take 3 years to adopt your product then you needed to have started speaking with them 3 years ago. That doesn’t mean your product needed to be ready 3 years ago (they wouldn’t have bought it then anyway). But those farmers needed to be part of your journey then, to be adopters now.
There’s a wealth of insight to be gained from everyday farmers, the ones who aren’t always chasing the latest tech. Their feedback might not always be easy to hear, but it’s exactly what the industry needs. Its how you change over the period that means those initial farmers who weren’t ready to adopt, become your advocates of the future.
Engaging with them will reveal what it really takes to scale a product for the broader market. Are you solving a genuine problem farmers face, or are you pushing a solution in search of a problem? And even if your product does address a challenge, is the value it provides enough to justify the effort and potential headaches of implementation? Sometimes, the reality is that a farmer might find it easier to live with the problem than to adopt a complicated solution.
As with most things in life – communication is the key. It’s not easy – but every farmer I know like a chat. They are happy to hear from you as well.
