A recent report from USDA-ERS says that new farming technology helped farmers produce more crops without using as much stuff like seeds and fertilizer.
As farmers deal with higher costs for things they need to grow crops, like seeds and fertilizer, and banks charging more to borrow money, new information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows how important technology is for making farms grow without needing extra stuff.
Based on a big study by the USDA-ERS, called “Precision Agriculture in the Digital Era: Recent Adoption on U.S. Farms,” farming has produced almost three times more crops over the past 70 years (from 1948 to 2021). This big growth happened because of better seeds, chemicals, machines, and how farms are organized.
During this time, farmers used a bit less stuff to farm. But at the same time, they made more stuff from farming.
Making more stuff on the farm has a lot to do with using everything together in a better way, which is called total factor productivity (TFP). It shows how much farm stuff gets made by putting all the things together. This means that new farm tools and ideas have helped farmers make more things using fewer things, which makes farming better and cheaper.
These discoveries show how important it is for farmers to use new technology in farming. When farmers use new tools that help them work better and faster, they can deal with problems like higher prices for things they need to grow crops and higher interest rates. This helps them keep their farms going and maybe even grow them bigger.
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