Constrained by tight margins and volatile commodity prices, farmers are prioritizing investments in precision agricultural solutions with a proven return on investment (ROI), which was a key takeaway from ag machinery maker CNH Industrial’s first annual Farmer Pulse survey.
As part of its Farmer Pulse: The AgTech Adoption Edition report, CNH surveyed 217 of its farmer and rancher customers across the U.S. and Canada in May to understand the role precision ag capabilities play in their daily operations.
Most farmers (71%) said that precision technology is important or extremely important to their operations, with 62% saying that the tech is delivering moderate or extremely valuable, CNH reported. Additionally, 78% of farmers said that they expect to invest more in precision ag in the next five years, including 54% who said they will in the next two years.
Nearly three-quarters (74%) of farmers were using precision tech to reduce input costs, 70% to save time and labor, and 59% to increase yields. More than half of farmers (56%) used precision tech to conserve energy, and 49% used it to collect better data.
Almost all CNH farmers (89%) used auto-guidance, while 54% used precision application systems and the same amount used telematics and integrated farm management software. However, only 14% used AI capabilities, like systems that automatically adjust equipment based on field conditions (i.e., automation), CNH reported.
AI is “very critical for the success of CNH and our customers going forward,” since the technology can pull data from multiple sources to help farmers make better decisions, Eric Shuman, head of precision technology product management and future CTO for CNH, told AgNavigator.
“We need to be leading and out front in this precision space, as well as how we leverage AI tools and how we incorporate that to make it at the fingertips of our customers easy to use,” he added.
Cost & ease of use key precision ag investment drivers
Cost and value were the largest barriers to precision ag adoption. Half of farmers (56%) said costs were their biggest adoption obstacle, and 36% were unsure that additional technology would deliver value.
For its part, CNH aims to deliver a return on investment within two years on a normal size farm, faster for large scale operations, Shuman noted.
“With razor-thin margins, every input cost matters. Every dollar spent counts, and every improvement in yield and output can make the difference between a profitable operation and an unprofitable one,” Shuman emphasized.
Farmers not only want value from their precision ag solutions, but they are increasingly demanding a fully integrated offering. Among the 85% of farmers who are considering precision tech investments, 43% want the tech embedded into new equipment, CNH reported.
“From a factory standpoint, we’ve been focusing on giving them simplicity even in the ordering process, where we have a high-level tech package versus a core tech and then an advanced tech, so they don’t have to go a la carte and say, ‘Okay, well, I want this piece, that piece, this piece,’ and the dealer is trying to advise them,” Shuman elaborated.
