Canadian producers are keeping up with the times when it comes to the use of mobile technology.
Farmers have been as quick to purchase a smart phone (29%) as other Canadians (30%), according to a recent Farm Credit Canada (FCC) panel study.
It’s the same story for tablet use. Six per cent of producers own a tablet, as do 6% of Canadians. Tablet adoption is expected to be highest among current smart phone users. More than half (53%) of Canadian producers who own a smart phone today plan to buy a tablet within two years.
With a strong web connection these devices can turn vehicles and farm machinery into a mobile office where producers can conveniently place orders, market products and monitor weather, interest rates and grain markets, for example.
“Getting access to relevant financial data and economic information can be a real advantage in a fast-moving marketplace,” said Jean-Philippe Gervais, FCC senior agriculture economist. “Innovation has always been a major driver of profitability in agriculture and mobile technology is just one more tool available to gain a competitive edge.”
FCC’s chief operating officer Rémi Lemoine said, “Canadian producers are innovative and have historically adopted new technology. So we weren’t surprised by the survey results.
“However, it does emphasize that organizations like ours and others which serve the complex and dynamic industry of agriculture need to be considering ways to make information increasingly technology friendly.”
Complete survey results from the FCC study are available at www.fccvision.ca.
