AGRICULTURAL TRENDS
01.03.2017
“In the end, there's more money left in your pocket”
Digital technologies will fundamentally transform agriculture. Chief Executive Officer of the
BayWa AG, Prof. Klaus Josef Lutz explains the opportunities arising from this development.
PROFESSOR LUTZ, THE AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY HAS ALWAYS BEEN IN A CONSTANT
TRANSITION. FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, HOW MUCH HAS DIGITALISATION, ESPECIALLY OVER
THE LAST FEW YEARS, AFFECTED THE FARMING PROFESSION?
I see this change process as a revolutionary evolution. More and more, farmers are starting to become high-tech
managers. Precision farming, smart farming, next farming – all of these are developments which help farmers to
optimise production, costs and yield. We are currently only experiencing the beginning, however. The wideranging expansion of the internet in rural areas, which still does not work properly everywhere, needs to become
more gapless over the next few years in Germany. There is still much to be done, and that is why I call this
process an evolution.
ARE FARMERS OPEN TO AND READY FOR TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGES?
Yes, they are; but this openness relies on farmers recognising how they will effectively profit from the changes. It
is pointless to lead abstract discussions on software packages, hardware tools or similar aspects – especially
considering that these changes imply large financial investments. It is very important to communicate to farmers
how a product will noticeably optimise their day-to-day work. Every farmer has different needs, issues and goals.
Is the operation a dairy farm or focussed on land cultivation or a hybrid operation? This means that each farmer
needs to be approached individually with tailored solutions.
YOU YOURSELF LIVE IN AN AREA WHICH HAS BEEN SHAPED BY AGRICULTURE. HOW HAVE
YOU NOTICED YOUR NEIGHBOURS’ TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES?
One of my neighbours is a very good example of this learning process. Just recently we spoke about this topic,
after he had been of the opinion that there was no real benefit to digital technology for him. Only a few days later, I
saw him fertilising his fields and noticed how his tractor was losing some of the fertiliser by distributing it on the
gravel path next to field. A sensor for site-specific seeding would have been able to prevent this issue, which I told
him as well. Precision control in particular has a multitude of positive effects – less seed, more efficient usage
and, in the end, more money in your pocket.
DO YOU GET THE FEELING THAT YOUNGER FARMERS ARE MORE OPEN TO THIS TOPIC THAN
THEIR OLDER COUNTERPARTS?
In my lectures at the TU in Weihenstephan, every single student has a laptop open in front of them. Young people
have an entirely different access to technology. Nonetheless, I am convinced that all, even older farmers, are
enthusiastic about the advances in digitalisation once they see how their own operations can profit from them.
WHERE DO YOU SEE AGRICULTURE IN 2030?
Agriculture will be even more technology-based, and farmers will have become even more like businessmen.
Many process will be automated, making life easier for farmers. But do you know what I think will never happen?
TELL US, PLEASE ...
That farmers will manage their fields and stalls entirely from their living rooms using a touch pad. Farmers without
empathy for their profession will never make it, neither with nor without technology. They will always need to
understand what is happening with the soil and have a feeling for what they are producing. The idea that farmers
will become emotionally uncoupled through digitalisation is a notion that cannot and will not come to fruition.
Agriculture does not thrive without a direct relationship with and a feel for nature.