In Saskatchewan, Canada, Jake Leguee, a third-generation farmer, is among the leaders of an ag-tech revolution. His family has grown canola, wheat, flax and green lentils on their 17,000 acres since 1956. Now, Leguee uses the best software available and remote cameras mounted on his John Deere tractor to tell him where he needs to focus on weed control. This new practice increases productivity by over fifteen times. It points to the larger trend of North American farmers eager to adopt new technology and innovate.
The software Leguee’s company uses is based on a machine learning model that factors in 20 years of historical weather data. As a result, he’s able to make smarter decisions about how to manage the crops that nourish the world. As Leguee notes, “It was a lot less efficient back then,” reflecting on how technology has transformed farming practices over the years.
Current statistics show that a shocking 73 percent of North American farmers are already very interested in embracing such innovations. According to a 2024 McKinsey survey, 57% of farmers in the Midwest are willing to try new yield-increasing technologies. So now they’re all committed to taking action in the next two years. This trend to more tech-dense farming is further aided by firms like Syngenta, who are producing software like Cropwise. CHARLESTON — AppHarvest has developed a first-of-its-kind tool that uses artificial intelligence and satellite imagery to deliver actionable insights for farmers.
Feroz Sheikh, the chief information officer of Syngenta Group, elaborated on the capabilities of their technology: “And the system has 20 years of our weather pattern data fed into a machine learning model, so we know exactly what kind of conditions lead to what outcome.” For example, he said, it can alert farmers to certain sections of their fields that require work. This can include alerts for outbreaks such as the Spotted Lanternfly pest outbreak.
The incorporation of technology onto a farm like Leguee’s is far-reaching. Vermont’s Norah Lake, who operates Sweetland Farms, uses technology to ensure productive harvests. She emphasizes the importance of data in modern agriculture, expressing her desire for concrete metrics: “I’d want to know that if we planted 100 bed feet of broccoli, what did we actually produce?”
Heather Darby is an agronomist and soil specialist at the University of Vermont. She points to increasing enthusiasm for tech on the part of younger farmers. She states, “When farmers get help to avoid crop failures, that could lead to a more controlled farm environment and a reliable and secure food system.” Darby advocates for embracing technology as vital for farming’s future: “After all, when you think about it, some of these farms are multi-million-dollar businesses that are supporting multiple families. We can’t let the technology drive the ship. We need to welcome technology that’s beneficial.”
In addition to software advancements, innovative companies like NoMaze are emerging to help farmers understand crop performance under varying climate conditions. Founder Jean-Pascal Lutze explains their approach: “We did field tests in a variety of environments and then created simulations through our computer model to give clients better insight into, say, how much water to use, how to get the maximum yield.”
Leguee’s farm is a microcosm of a growing phenomenon—fewer but more technology-dense farms in the U.S. According to a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office report, the pace of adoption of such technology has accelerated massively since the early 2000s, especially in guidance autosteering systems. This change is good for farmers and for USDA farm program administration, and it has the potential to help consumers by lowering food prices.
Jake Leguee focused on helping farmers discover economically beneficial solutions. These choices enable them to adopt more tech while remaining within their fiscal constraints. “There are low-cost solutions that won’t be as expensive as new spraying tech, and they could be an app to help you better keep your records, for example,” he noted.
The effects of these changes go beyond a competitive advantage for a given farm. They threaten to revolutionize the entire agricultural landscape. Technology is changing and shifting and growing more accessible every single day. Farmers like Jake Leguee are leading the way, pushing the transition to a more efficient and sustainable agricultural future.