Technology & the Agriculture Industry in 2019

March 29, 2019

Agtech

In the past decade, we have seen a trend between various industries and their rejection or acceptance of technology. Where industries like marketing, supply chain, and retail were the first ones to jump on the train, we are now seeing the last passengers board for departure.

A prominent industry in this situation is agriculture. One of the oldest industries in our world, they have made leaps and bounds in the past few years to move up to speed. One of the main reasons for this are a new generational dominance over the industry. While others are the demands of the population, and the sustainability needs of the planet.

Here are three areas of Agtech (Agriculture Technology) that you should be aware of in 2019…

Self-Propelling Farm Machinery

The idea of self-propelling farm machinery completely taking over the agriculture industry is still a long way off. However, we are starting to see the trend move this way for various machinery such as sprayers and smaller mechanisms.

For a great overview of the agriculture machinery manufacturers, check out this article titled Manufacturer Consolation Reshaping the Farm Equipment Marketplace. This article gives an in-depth side-by-side comparison of the various industry leaders since the early 1900’s. If you study the trends of these manufacturers, you will see how they have reacted and implemented new products based off the needs of the farmers of that time period.

By understanding what the farming community of tomorrow will need to do their jobs in the most efficient and effective way possible, manufacturers must continually push the envelope when it comes to perfecting the technology behind self-propelled farm machinery.

Take Action: Assess your organization’s direction for the current and upcoming years. Are you in tune with the needs of your customers for them to be successful in the years to follow?

Farm Maintenance via Smart Devices

Along with smarter machinery, we are also seeing smart devices and applications make their way into the mainstream. These help the farming community better monitor and manage their crops.

For example, in 2018 there were multiple softwares unveiled to help farmers streamline their productivity and efficiency. On top of smarter and more efficient software, we are also seeing a large increase in mobile applications that allows the agriculture community to manage their entire operation with a few taps on their screen.

But why in 2019? Smart devices have been ruling our world for almost two decades now.

We are attributing this shift to the rise of the millennial decision making farmer. Millennials have been in the workforce for quite some time now (the age range is 23-38). But we are now starting to see some of the older GenYers move into prominent decision making roles.

With them comes updated thinking, efficiency, and ease of process for the sake of the organization and the population. This point leads us to the third and final most important trend to look for in agriculture in the coming years.

Take Action: Review your current processes and see where there are gaps that could be filled by a smart device or software.

The Industry is no longer Resisting

The agriculture industry has been around as long as humans have needed to eat food. But it still had a difficult time moving into the technology-filled world of today. Why?

Because without agriculture, the entire human ecosystem collapses. So, the practical thought was, “why fix something that isn’t broken?”

And this thinking worked for quite awhile. That is until the industry started to realize that their current way of doing things would no longer meet the demands of the planet in various ways.

Now, no matter the generation, the agriculture industry sees the need and is accepting technology with open arms. They are on a quest to streamline processes, utilize efficient machinery, and ensure our sustained future.

How does this Relate to Pentaflex?

You might be reading this and be thinking “What does any of this have to do with a metal stamping company?”

Here at Pentaflex, we believe in the power of investing time in listening to our clients and understanding the industry they are in. Only by grasping the full picture of the industry can we ensure that our processes, machinery, products, and service are meeting the needs of that industry.

Take Action: Call Pentaflex today to hear more about how we are staying up to date on the changes in the agtech world.