How could the new generations of agricultural producers be?

JULIO CALZADA - INGRID CLAUSEN - SOFÍA CORINA

It is difficult to answer this question. But it is convenient and important, to think and conjecture. It is likely that those born from 1996 onwards will be the most avid in incorporating the exponential advance of digital technology in agriculture. These are the Z generation (centennials) and the "alpha" generation (tactile generation). These people do not conceive a world without internet or cell phones, therefore, the connection in the field will be as vital as any other public service. This group has a tendency to look to immediate solutions, at the speed of a click, and is able to do a lot of activities at the same time. Due to the experience of their predecessors, they will be more aware of the climatic and price risks and the care of the environment. Centennials are growing along with the digital revolution of agriculture and will be the actors of the productive growth of the next 20 years. They are characterized by being self-taught, visual, versatile, flexible to changes and technology lovers, therefore, their profile will adapt to the vertiginous growth of technology in the agro-industrial sector. On the other hand, the tactile generation is the post-centennial, born from 2010. They are the children of millennials and were born monitored through cameras, pulse sensors, apps to feed them and with a life in social networks before the year of age. Therefore, their virtual daily life will be expanded to the daily activities of the field, which will be automated by artificial intelligence and controlled remotely. These generations feel and will feel comfortable working with their fingers on a screen, submerged between algorithms, collaborative social networks, artificial intelligence and data mining. They are self-taught, fond of tutorials on YouTube and addicted to novelty. However, they were over-stimulated as children so they get bored very easily and find it difficult to focus on just one activity. The acquisition of agricultural inputs could come to fruition through platforms that compare different qualities, prices and delivery conditions. The reading of the opinions of consumers and influencers will define purchasing decisions. Passive consumers will turn to "prosumers," or consumers who produce new content about the product. Thus, the experiences of users move brands to the background. The uberization of agricultural machinery through market place platforms would be another phenomenon. As with Uber, machines, robots, drones would be shared by different users to reduce the idle capacity of the technology and lower costs. In addition, crowfunding (collective financing) could become common currency to make investments in agriculture. Generations Z and alpha are not characterized by being patient. They want immediate solutions, therefore, it is feasible to think that they will tend to eliminate bureaucratic procedures in order to streamline any process. The blockchain technology raises that solution. The "block chain" is a digital platform that collects and checks transactions among its users. This technology can be used to transfer money as well as for the traceability of the food, from the field where it's produced to the final consumer. Another particular feature of these generations is that they saw their parents and grandparents deal with price and climate risks. Therefore, it is likely that they incorporate agricultural coverage as daily as medical coverage. Finally, they are generations with other values regarding the environment since they experience environmental disasters in short periods of time. It is quite logical to think that they would lean towards the use of renewable energies (especially solar energy for the operation of machines or robots), to boost agriculture so as to use as few chemicals as possible; they will value water more as a scarce resource and will tend to satisfy the growing demand for organic food. One concept to think about is the following: food producers will not necessarily work with the land. Some will be in laboratories creating synthetic foods and others in terraces of buildings with hydroponics. To sum up, future generations of the field will tend to solve their finances from their smartphones, purchase of inputs, grain sales, work orders, logistics, monitoring of batches with drones or satellite images, etc. The "internet of things" will reach the equipment of agricultural holdings, and the algorithms that take their data as inputs will facilitate decision making. It is reasonable to think that the producers of the next generation will work remotely and collaboratively, with a multidisciplinary team. Rosario Board of Trade's works in science and technology in 2017 The Rosario Board of Trade didn´t want to be left behind in the scientific-technological revolution of Argentine agriculture, thus it has decided to provide a humble contribution to innovation. Below are the activities that our entity developed last year. Agro Hackaton and Innovation Forum 2017: In September of last year, at the headquarters of our institution, the Agro Hackaton was held together with the "Innovation Forum 2017". The Hackaton Agro consisted of two days aimed at thinking, identifying and designing technological solutions for the different problems of the national agricultural sector. These seminars were attended by students, professionals and entrepreneurs from all disciplines related to agricultural activity and information and communication technologies, such as software developers, designers, visualizers, programmers, agronomists and producers. One of the most outstanding facts is that the Argentine Ministries of Production, Science and Technology, Agroindustry and Modernization chose the Rosario Board of Trade to carry out this important event, where more than 300 people participated. The Innovation Forum, which was held together with the Agro Hackaton, was an important training and development activity where referents of technology, innovation and startup funding provided high-impact conferences open to the community. Rosario Board of Trade´s Innovation Award: The Rosario Board of Trade (BCR) also implemented last year the "BCR Award for Innovation" in order to reward the best project of innovation and / or technological development that will try to provide solutions to problems related to new technologies applied to agriculture, new uses for agricultural products and early warnings for weather emergencies. The projects were selected by a qualified jury made up of 11 outstanding members. Trip to Silicon Valley From October 10 to 20, 2017, a delegation organized by the BCR traveled to Silicon Valley and Chicago in the United States of America. The trip was part of the training and learning activities organized by the institution, which objective was to discover the innovative ecosystem of one of the most important technological poles in the world, generate international networks and discover disruptive technologies applied to agroindustrial development, finance and markets, among others. What is coming in 2018... The Rosario Board of Trade is organizing this year a new version of the "BCR Innovation Award 2018". It is also preparing an "Open Innovation Program" to link companies / producers with technological entrepreneurs from Argentina and the rest of the world. On the other hand, a Council organized by the BCR will help companies find the right technology to fit their needs and / or opportunities they want to capture. It is expected that the "Investment Forum 2018" will also take place, where successful cases of agricultural technology startups will be exposed, as well as startups´ investment vehicles, such as venture capital funds.