Bloomberg’s Michael Hirtzer reported that “artificial intelligence use is surging on farms as growers look for some high-tech help in planning and managing operations after years of scaling back on spending, according to McKinsey & Co.”
“Some 17% of the world’s farmers now use generative AI in farm-related tasks, making it one of the fastest-growing technologies in agriculture, McKinsey said in its Global Farmer Insights 2026 report, published Tuesday,” Hirtzer reported. “The AI adoption follows a multiyear farm slump that crimped spending amid rising costs for agricultural inputs. Costs for labor, land, equipment, financing and fertilizer have remained elevated and volatile since farmer profitability last peaked in 2021-22, according to David Fiocco, senior partner at McKinsey.”
“‘These forces — combined with local policy uncertainty, increasingly unpredictable weather and labor shortages — are making farm-level decisions harder and riskier,’ Fiocco said in the report,” according to Hirtzer’s reporting. “Farmers, especially in the Americas, are quickly adopting AI to assist in day-to-day decisions. ‘It has dramatically changed the way growers are able to rapidly get agronomic advice,’ Fiocco said.”
AgroLatam’s Marcus Ellington reported that “the numbers reveal an important distinction between experimenting with AI and paying for it. Globally, 17% of surveyed farmers use generative AI for agricultural tasks, but only 4% pay for AI tools, while 12% use free versions, with rounding accounting for the difference in the total.”
“North America stands out: 23% report using Gen AI, including 10% who pay for tools and 13% who use free options,” Ellington reported. “Latin America has the highest overall adoption at 26%, followed by North America, Europe at 13% and Asia at 7%. That pattern suggests farmers are willing to test technologies that can be deployed without the major upfront investment required for hardware.”
“Yet rapid AI adoption does not mean farmers are ready to replace human expertise. Only 6% cite Gen AI chatbots as an advice source, compared with 56% who turn to technical agronomists and 56% who rely on sales representatives,” Ellington reported. “The influence of sales representatives has nevertheless fallen sharply, from 67% in 2024 to 56% in 2026, while technical agronomists increased slightly from 54% to 56%. The contrast points toward a hybrid model for agricultural decision-making: digital tools increasingly help producers discover and compare information, while trusted technical experts remain central when growers need to validate decisions before putting money at risk.”
US Farmers View AI as Helpful for Strategic Planning
Brownfield Ag News’ Erin Anderson reported that “an ag economist says more farmers are using artificial intelligence to support business decisions. Michael Langemeier with Purdue’s Center for Commercial Agriculture says more than 30 percent of respondents in the latest Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer named strategic planning as the biggest benefit.“
“‘They typically don’t rate those skills as something they’re really good at,’ he says,” according to Anderson’s reporting. “‘There’s a lot of skills that may be improved with AI. Finance and strategy are two that they really thought could be improved upon.'”
“He tells Brownfield there are also opportunities to use the technology long-term,” Anderson reported. “… Langemeier says he expects AI adoption to increase as producers become more familiar with its applications.”
