Ottawa-The future for Canadian farming lies with the adoption of digital agriculture and an accompanying cultural mindset shift across the entire sector to leverage it, says Elise Bigley, Director of Strategic Projects with the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI).

After diving into the world of digital agriculture policy during the last few years, CAPI concluded it represents the future of Canadian farming and is not optional, she told the Ag Robotics Working Group.

“We have precision robotics, AI platforms, advanced breeding technologies and data systems transforming global operations. Canadian innovators demonstrate grit, speed and real solutions in the field.”

Without digital tools, traditional farming cannot deliver the resilience, competitiveness and productivity needed to compete in the complex environment of climate risks, trade pressures, labour shortages and rising costs.

“So, if it’s happening regardless, the sooner the entirety of the sector begins to make the transition, the more proactively we can work together.”

Famers should regard digital tools as essential rather than as nice-to-have, she said.

A shift in attitude must occur across the sector and be adopted by political leaders who set priorities, government program designers who define eligibility, investors who decide where to put capital and ecosystem actors who shape the conditions for adoption.

“Without that broader reorientation, even well-designed interventions risk underperforming.”

Farmers have hesitated to adopt digital because of uncertain returns on investment, connectivity gaps, interoperability challenges, skills and advisory gaps and data ownership and trust concerns

“We found that Canada is not short on ideas, it’s short on adoption. And the data showed us where the divide sits most sharply.”

“Large farms, those over 5,000 acres, report adoption or planned adoption rates near 80 per cent. Smaller operations, those under 2,000 acres, sit closer to 36 per cent. That gap is not closing on its own.”

Digital transformation goes beyond the farm gate to include processing, advancing genetics and traceability, logistics and manufacturing.

“The sector is operating in an environment of sustained uncertainty. Innovation policy is under strain at the same time that digital opportunity is expanding.”

Federal investment in AI capacity, domestic cloud infrastructure and rural broadband are moving in the right direction. Data governance has moved close to the centre of national economic discussion.

However the digital agriculture mindset must take hold from the farmgate to the cabinet table through five coordinated actions, Bigley said. They include dedicated funding to support digital ag adoption and predictable growth stage capital for connected agri-food innovation.

Predictable, time-bound regulatory pathways for agri-food innovation, a national agricultural data governance framework and establishment of a coordinated, system-wide approach to digital agriculture are the other steps.

“That the future is digital is unavoidable and we cannot be competitive if we don’t make digital agriculture a priority together. This cultural mindset shift is what makes these five actions real or else they’re just words on a page.”

Advancing digital ag requires consistent commitment and not just episodic attention. In a fragmented, underfunded, misaligned innovation system, digital ag adoption will remain uneven regardless of how good the tools are.

CAPI is working to build a consensus on the issue to present for the next Agriculture Policy Framework and this summer’s annual meeting of federal and provincial agriculture ministers in Halifax.

Among the organizations advancing digital agriculture are EMILI Innovation Farms, the Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network, AIVA (Agriculture Innovation, Validation, and Adoption) Network, founded by FCC, EMILI, and the Wabash Heartland Innovation Network (WHIN) and the Canadian Food Innovation Network sandboxes.

This report prepared for National Newswatch