Digital Farming Archives - Agricultural and Rural Convention

Europe’s Agroecology Movement – Stepping up in Times of Covid19

June 22, 2020 Alison Brogan

Four innovative and committed agroecology initiatives showed how they stepped up in times of Covid19 at a webinar organised by Forum Synergies and ARC2020 last week. And dozens, from all over Europe and beyond, got involved in the conversation. Alison Brogan tells us about this event which provided a moment to reflect, some key contemporary learnings, and which sowed the seeds of further action. […]

AgtechTakeback | Farm Technology Can Work For All

December 20, 2018 Oliver Moore

Our agtech series – agtechtakeback – saw a troubling story of corporate takeover and of disempowered, indebted farmers. But we also encountered empowering and inspiring examples of farmers embracing the best, most appropriate, of technologies to grow agroecologically. […]

AgtechTakeback | Digital Consolidation – Entrenching Agrichemical Companies & Industrial Ag?

September 26, 2018 ARC

Digital agriculture, broadly defined as the use of mass amounts of data to influence decision-making on farms, has incredible potential to make farms more economically and ecologically sustainable. However, it also poses risks to the privacy, profitability and independence of farmers. Jason Davidson is the Food and Agriculture Campaign Associate at Friends of the Earth (US). […]

#AgtechTakeback – Debate by ARC2020 and IATP

September 2, 2018 Karen Hansen-Kuhn

As the role of technology increases in farming and food, and corporate powers use this to extend their power, we need to strive for technological developments that are appropriate for farmers, for eaters and for the planet. Welcome to #AgTechTakeback. […]

Democratising AgTech? Agriculture and the Digital Commons | Part 2

March 26, 2018 ARC

In Part 2, Gabriel Ash examines whether Free/ Open Source Software (FOSS) can really counter the commodification of agricultural knowledge. […]

Democratising AgTech? Agriculture and the Digital Commons | Part 1

March 25, 2018 ARC

AgTech is being mainstreamed. Can Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) be a way to make it accessible to all? In this 2-part piece, Gabriel Ash explores agricultural knowledge and the digital commons. […]

Seasons Greetings – And Join Us to Make 2018 a Good Food Good Farming Year!

December 20, 2017 ARC

Relax and reflect over the holiday season – and see here for lots of ways to get involved with us for 2018 – from soil to AgTech, conservation tillage to farm hack – there are lots of topis to sink your teeth into with ARC for 2018. […]

Drones & CAP Compliance – savvy surveying or surveillance state?

December 10, 2017 Helene Schulze

Somewhere between convenience, efficiency, cost saving and a comprehensive EU surveillance mega state, the use of drones and other in-the-sky technologies for ensuring CAP compliance represents, as it were, a Brave New World. Helene Schultz unpacks the details. […]

Texting Cows, AGTech & the Future of Farming in Germany

November 26, 2017 ARC

Automation and digitisation are rising in farming and the broader agri-food sector. Germany – industrial powerhouse of Europe – seems an obvious place to embrace AGTech. From precision farming and data ownership to embodied energy and cost, what are the opportunities, the impacts and the implications? And how are agroecologists responding? […]