OPPORTUNITIES FOR FARMERS TO GROW WEALTH IN THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION T H O M AS H E N R Y F O U N DAT I O N BARRY O’BOYLE
oboyleni@gmail.com
Farmers throughout the UK have never faced a period of so much uncertainty for generations. Brexit, the future of subsidies, climate change and the many other challenges are all common concerns among the agriculture community. Agriculture and indeed the global economy are undergoing rapid change, economies globally have been badly hit by the cost of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has led to a sovereign debt crisis not seen since World War II. This Nuffield report examines how UK public funds will come under extreme pressure in the next few years as the UK government will struggle to fund agriculture subsidies at the same level as today, whilst also covering the already growing costs of running other public services. It is no understatement that many UK farmers, big and small, rely heavily on subsidies to survive and keep their businesses afloat. For the first time in generations, the UK government along with other key stakeholders within the agriculture industry will have the opportunity to reshape the agriculture subsidy system that will support UK farmers in the future. Brexit has been divisive in many ways even among the farming community, however now is the time to examine the resources which should be available to UK agriculture and how best to exploit these in a global context. During my Nuffield travels, the common theme gained from the people I met was that one of the greatest opportunities to emerge not only for agriculture but for the UK economy in general in the next few years is the positive impacts of the 4th industrial revolution, which is in its early stages in the world economy. The rise of “the internet of things� such as artificial intelligence, drones, robotics, etc are all fusing to create new products, new processes and the opportunity to improve or eliminate problem areas of agriculture that cost farmers either loss of income or production. It became clear that, globally, Agritech was lacking development input from farmers even though they are the end customers of new Agritech products. Further, farms are a valuable testing ground for new products which is currently underutilised in comparison to research and development within other industries. Farmers are central to developing new Agritech products and there remain many innovative ways which the government and all stakeholders could explore to incentivise farmers to collaborate more by sharing knowledge and expertise.
Picture is of author on family A clear concluding message also in terms of the current UK Co.Antrim Dairy farm government strategy on Agritech, is that the UK is a world leader in research and development. However, there remain many opportunities to better commercialise and monetise the Agritech sector that could greatly benefit UK farmers. Any new farm policy post Brexit should incentivise farmers to seize the opportunities that will come from the 4th Industrial revolution.
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