We all want to know what the future holds for the ag sector, but the next best thing is knowing about the current trends, challenges, and opportunities.

Aidan Connolly, a 30+ year veteran of the agtech world and innovation specialist writes regularly about the ways that agriculture is changing. His newest book, The Future of Agriculture, examines how technology is impacting farming and the food production system.

Drawing on almost 50 articles and essays written over the last few years, The Future of Agriculture is fast paced, global and eclectic, just like the author. Connolly has compiled a punchy work that will take readers on a journey to where agriculture currently is and where it is headed. I loved the fact that I could jump from topic to topic quickly gaining insight into the author’s thought process.

Connolly acknowledges how productivity and global food production are at historically high levels against a backdrop of sustainability and accessibility concerns. The increasing gap between urban dwellers and food producers, the impact of diseases such as African Swine Fever, and continued efficiency is improving. “The world has never produced so much, and it is doing so with fewer farmers than ever.”

Connolly demonstrates how technology has enhanced the efficiency, safety, and sustainability of food systems. He identifies “The Big 10 Disruptors” poised to usher in a new era in agriculture: 3D printing, robots, drones, data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), cloud computing, blockchain, and Internet of Things (IoT). Practical examples 3D printing to quickly recreate farm equipment parts, robots to replace labor-intensive farm tasks are just some of the practical examples in the book of technological adoption. Connolly further outlines how these ten technologies are being utilized in the pork, poultry, dairy, beef, aquaculture, equine, and crops sectors of agriculture. Blockchain allows tracking information of food and food ingredients from producer to consumer and offering complete traceability. The book debates the role of biotechnologies, alternative proteins, as sustainable and ethical food sources, and the role of vertical farming and how all of these are being shaped by the sustainability agenda.

Right from its opening pages on the role of Prosumers—a term Connolly uses to describe consumers who actively become involved in the design, production and delivery of the goods and services they consume; to an acronym called Glimpse, that he uses to describe the factors keeping farmers from adequately feeding the world; to his assessments of agriculture potential in geographic regions such as India and Israel, Connolly packs a lot of insight into each section. I particularly appreciated his focus on animal agriculture learning a ton about how tech such as IoT sensors coupled with data processing and machine learning will improve the efficiency of livestock production while simultaneously decreasing its environmental footprint.

The Future of Agriculture is determinedly pragmatic, and does not shirk from facing the challenges, limitations and real negative consequences that come with evolving technology. It is not as relentlessly positive as Peter Diamandis’ book, Abundance. Nor is it as crop focused as my book, FOOD 5.0, How We Feed The Future, showing how these technological advances will help farmers make farming more sustainable. No other published book attempted to synthesize such a broad range of international insights to chart the future technological transformation of agriculture, reflecting the author’s work in over 100 countries. The Future of Agriculture provides readers with information to inform them on the state of play of digital and other disruption in food and agriculture, linking it to the wide range of players, making it is an essential resource for those interested in further research or investment.

There are some omissions in the book, notably Chat-GPT, the role of synthetic biology, the growing influence of climate change mitigating technologies, and energy conservation. Such is the magnitude of change in the agricultural sector, and the concomitant degree of challenge in attempting to capture a holistic portrait of the changes, opportunities, and threats. Some of these topics have clearly evolved substantively, even since the publication of the book, as is the nature and speed of innovation, so these omissions are inevitable. Already with 10,000 copies of the book either sold and downloaded, The Future of Agriculture provides a fantastic set of binoculars that can inform our thinking and gain new insights into the future of food.

Robert Saik is a professional agrologist, entrepreneur and international consultant. He is the founder of AGvisorPRO, a mobile technology platform connecting those seeking agriculture advice with trusted experts to advance technological integration and sustainability as well as visorPRO an AI solution enhancing customer and technical support in the farm equipment sector. He is the author of FOOD 5.0, How We Feed The Future. Available on Amazon.

The Future of Agriculture, by Aidan Connolly, is available in English, Portuguese, and Chinese. A digital copy can be downloaded for free at agritechcapital.com or purchased through Amazon.