New technologies have infiltrated every aspect of modern life, and that includes the agriculture sector, says FG Adriaanse, co-founder of Adagin Technologies, on this week’s Farmer’s Inside Track podcast.
Adriaanse says that new generation farmers are more likely to embrace these new technologies. “The reason for that being is that the landscape has shifted so dramatically in the past 10 to 15 years, especially where cost have risen dramatically.”
Adagin Technologies is an agri-tech company, founded in 2016, that provides farmers with the latest in technological solutions. Adriaanse started the company with his friend JD Naudé.
“Technology is only a tool in the toolbox of the farm. It’s just a new kind of toolbox [farmers] need to start opening to start driving efficiencies,” he says.
While older agricultural practices have proven to be effective, farmers should not hesitate to utilise new technologies to “keep farming sustainably in the future.”
New technologies can be expensive, though Adriaanse says that’s not always the case. “There are these that are very glamorous and taking the spotlight, which might drive the perception. But we are finding that farmers are [finding] very creative ways to use free internet tools to just drive efficiencies on the farm.”
Ultimately, employing new technologies is a calculated risk. “It comes down to the farmer making a calculation and making a judgement based on what the cost saving is going to be from the technology, as well as the cost of implementing the technology. And that’s a calculation each farmer needs to make on their own.”
ALSO READ: Adagin Technologies and farming solutions.
Other farmers podcast highlights:
The best agriculture news podcast on the planet also features other highlights for the agricultural sector this week:
- How to farm with subtropical fruits in Mzansi: Learn more about how to farm with seasonal fruits. Journalist Nicole Ludolph chats to Limpopo fruit farmer Theuns Botha who gives us the downlow on to farm with avocados, mangos and litchis.
- Farmer’s tip of the week: Our farmer tip of the week comes from KwaZulu-Natal agriculture student Lusanda Mkhwanazi.
- Book of the week: Our book of the week is The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz. The author talks about the kind of friends you need as an entrepreneur.
- Work Accident Support: We chat to Stephen Pietersen, who helps us unpack the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, specifically focusing on payable benefits.
- Soil Sistas: This week’s #SoilSista, powered by Food For Mzansi and Corteva Agriscience, is Free State dairy farmer Disebo Makatsa. She supplies raw milk for Woolworths products and is aiming to expand into agro-processing.
- Farmer Development: FarmSol boss Aron Kole talks us through food security and alleviating poverty.
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