Does agriculture lack smart minds?

The agricultural sector is digitizing at a rapid pace. Professional knowledge no longer only includes straight plowing and a milk diploma. Farmers, employees, mechanics and drivers must have knowledge of electronics. Does agriculture lack smart minds?

Compared to other European countries, there are relatively many bright minds on the Dutch farm. Agricultural entrepreneurs in arable farming, dairy farming and pig farming who have a HBO or even WO diploma. They find enough challenges in running their business. In the surrounding agribusiness, this is a different story.

Ask for IT professionals
Electronics have taken over in all branches of sport. Agriculture is no exception. In fact, it is perhaps the only sector where large vehicles can do their work almost autonomously and where drones, satellites and robots help to make decisions. Dealing with this properly, to get the most out of it, is a profession in its own right. It requires specialist knowledge. At the farmer, contractor and dealership. This is partly the reason why it is becoming increasingly difficult for farmers to find good personnel.

Finding agriculturally oriented ICT professionals is not easy. Research has shown that the shortage of ICT professionals in the Netherlands is set to rise to a record high. In 2020, an estimated 54.000 jobs will be unfilled in this sector. How many of those come from agriculture? And, most importantly; how can this deficiency be addressed.

Educational disadvantage
Schools do what they can. They recognize that education has been overtaken by technology. However, that is rapidly changing. Agricultural schools are teaming up with manufacturers and farmers to address real-world problems. However, the question is whether the number of students is sufficient to provide the agricultural sector with mechanics, drivers and developers.

Table tennis and fresh mint tea
Making the agricultural sector attractive to outsiders is 1 solution to the problem and probably also a necessity. In practice, this is distasteful. People from an agricultural environment remain in the sector. Often because they have put their heart into it. An electronics specialist prefers to work for a hip IT company. One with a table tennis table, fresh mint tea, decent working hours and a good salary with good conditions. This is an important bottleneck for the agricultural sector. An average mechanization, contracting or agricultural company is run under the motto: 'just act normal, that's crazy enough'.

I dare to say that an entrepreneur himself partly determines the success. If you manage to offer a challenge, and if you understand the needs, you will progress as a company. Those who dwell in the past eventually cease to exist. That change is almost as drastic as the digital revolution in the sector.

Natural process
Do not get me wrong. Not every mechanic or driver needs to have an HBO diploma. However, the work and thinking level is becoming a requirement to be able to work with increasingly complex task maps, GPS systems, drones and sensors. In addition, you must be self-reliant to resolve minor malfunctions. In part, this training takes place in a natural way. Just look at how well a 4-year-old can handle a tablet. In 15 years, there is a good chance that he or she will know more about the GPS system than their father.

Still, I think companies in agribusiness would do well to think about their future. A vacancy can probably still be filled in this area, although that is not always easy either. What will the situation be like in 5 or 10 years? Can employees then keep up with the technology of that moment?

Niels van der Boom

Niels van der Boom is a senior market specialist for arable crops at DCA Market Intelligence. He mainly makes analyses and market updates about the potato market. In columns he shares his sharp view on the arable sector and technology.

© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.