Will technology save agriculture?

Big promises are being made by machine manufacturers and technology companies. Data, sensors, solar panels, smart techniques and even machines that produce milk. It must save agriculture. A golden future looms on the horizon. But, are these promises really that realistic?

I hear from different angles that there are also limits to this boundless tech optimism. Just take the limits of resources required for all these techniques. It is becoming increasingly clear that there is a scarcity of energy and metals that are essential for much of the electrical equipment.

These include nickel, cobalt and lithium. There appears to be a shortage of this in the next 10 years. Not necessarily because the raw material is running out, but because an enormous demand has to be met. These metals are not only needed for future electric tractors and machines, but also for solar panels, windmills and other equipment.

More problems
But hey, that's probably something smart techies think about. However, there are more problems. New data and cloud solutions also appear to have less positive sides. This is evident from a article by Nature that the energy consumption of data centers is increasing sharply. The energy consumption of these data centers is already as great as the consumption of the global air fleet.

Closer to home (in the Netherlands), these data centers consume 3 times as much power as the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS). It is expected that energy consumption will increase sharply in the coming years. Such a thing can also just become a limit for the unbridled growth of technical gadgets. And that is not something I think of, because there are also concerns about this within Wageningen University (WUR), for example. 

Dependence on suppliers
In addition, all this technology is making farmers increasingly dependent on suppliers, while I believe it is in the farmer's genes that he wants to be independent. In the past, a tractor could largely be repaired by yourself or by the mechanization company in the village. Now this increasingly depends on suppliers far away from us. It is also a potential risk that data will somehow in hands comes from people we don't even know exist.

I also find other technological developments downright special. For example, technology should replace cows† That should be more efficient and also healthier. Would it? Solar fields should keep the energy supply up to standard and should yield the farmer golden mountains. However, does it really benefit the agricultural sector in the long run? Doesn't it drive up the price of land, and won't these solar panels eventually become the asbestos of 2050? In short: shouldn't we first try to reduce energy consumption?

Pleasure?
Actually, I wonder whether the preached tech optimism is really so beneficial for the farmer. It may be a silly question in today's efficiency society, but does the farmers enjoy their work any better? Yes, perhaps for Wageningen graduates of agrotechnologists. And also for the part of the farmers that is highly technical. To a large extent, however, I think it is, simply, a source of frustration.

I wonder whether we are all actually happy with the flow of new innovations, which many people (in my opinion) do not ask for. Isn't it simply Say's Law, which states that every supply creates its own demand? In other words: as long as we come up with something new, people will buy it? Isn't the desire for more and better used masterfully? Perhaps the saying of the Dutch Agricultural Union is not so strange: 'Enough is better'.

Anne-Jan Doorn

Anne Jan Doorn has been working as an Arable farming expert since January 2018 Boerenbusiness. He writes about the various arable farming markets and also focuses on the land and energy market.

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