Making sense in the cloud: Farm advisory services in a smart farming future

Abstract

Increased use of data from smart farming technologies presents an opportunity for farmers to better understand their farm systems, and thereby improve outcomes for productivity, sustainability, and animal care. A research gap exists regarding the impact of data-driven smart farming on the relationship between advisors and farmers, and advisors and farm data/technology. Therefore, we asked: how are farmers and advisors interacting with data-driven smart farming, and what are the implications for farm advisor capability and roles in a future where farmers use more data-driven smart farming? We studied advisory roles, advisor-farmer interactions, and new technologies in the context of three cas..