Nearly a fifth of farmers invested or planned to invest in agri-tech in 2023, up from 13% the previous year, new research says.
However, investment in and uptake of farm technology continues to be cautious, with 62% of farmers still to consider it.
Barriers could include financial, lack of knowledge about the technology or confidence to try something new, NFU Mutual explains.
The perception that agri-tech is only suitable for larger commercial farms may be another blocker.
To help farmers and rural businesses adopt agri-tech, NFU Mutual has set up a new website offering guidance.
It says low-cost accessible agri-tech, such as CCTV, immobilisers, weather sensors and RFID Eartags, can also make a difference to productivity and efficiency.
The website comes as Defra Secretary Steve Barclay urged farmers to uptake readily available technology at the Oxford Farming Conference on 4 January.
Charlie Yorke, farming propositions manager at NFU Mutual, said farmers were increasingly leveraging digital solutions to optimise their operations.
However, a large proportion of farmers were still hesitant investing in agri-tech due to a number of factors.
“Although it may sound daunting, the adoption of agri-tech doesn’t need to be resource intensive or expensive," Mr Yorke said.
“While some large farms have invested in complex and large-scale agri-tech such as self-driving vehicles, alternative fuels and data driven sensors, it is important to remember agri-tech can be implemented at any scale, large or small.
“Simpler technologies such as gate sensors, RFID Eartags or the integration of an online data system to assist with farm administration duties, are all forms of agri-tech.
“There are plenty of low-cost innovations which could benefit your farm, making them safer, more secure and more efficient.”
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