A survey conducted by Farm Credit Canada shows, while farmers embrace technology, they want full control of their data.
The Farm Credit Vision Panel questioned farmers to get their feelings on the use of technology and the management of their data.
Greg Thomarat, the Manager of Marketing and Sales for AgExpert, Farm Credit Canada’s agricultural software, says over two thousand farmers from across Canada were surveyed.
The purpose of the survey with the FCC Vision Panel was to quantify farmers’ sentiments around the use and sharing of agricultural data that’s coming from their farmers. Producers absolutely embrace technology but the want control over their data. 69 percent of those that we surveyed believe that technology can increase efficiency, lower costs, and result in better yields while 65 percent believe it can improve management control and decision making.
The survey shows that 25 percent of the more than two thousand farmers that we surveyed have become less comfortable sharing their data with outside organizations such as suppliers over the past two years. 58 percent say their comfort level hasn’t changed. That’s part of the reason why FCC AgExpert went out and became agdata transparent certified.
Our position is that the farmer should have control and should have ownership and if they’re giving up ownership of data that should be clear. We believe that it should be crystal clear through that transaction as an ag tech provider that’s giving something that the farmer knows what’s happening with that data.
~ Greg Thomarat, Farm Credit Canada AgExpert
FCC encourages customers to tap into new technology and to be well informed as to how their data is being handled by their technology partners.
