Artificial intelligence called future of farming

Artificial intelligence is no longer a future concept for Canadian farms, and the pace of technological change now hitting the agriculture industry is unlike anything the sector has experienced before, ag-tech entrepreneur and futurist Rob Saik told the recent Convergence agricultural conference in Regina.

“AI will be the new operating system for the world,” said Saik, who has spent four decades working across farming, agronomy, precision agriculture, robotics and data systems.

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“This is going to change all of our lives. It’s going to impact agriculture in many ways.”

These technologies are already reshaping how crops are grown, how inputs and equipment are managed and how decisions are made, said Saik.

“The convergence of technology, slamming together, whether it’s sensors, AI robotics or biology, this is where we’re at today.”

Saik also highlighted rapid advances in biology and genetics, where AI is accelerating trait discovery, crop breeding and biological crop protection.

“This is going to absolutely explode.”

Autonomy is another shift farmers should expect, he said.

“It’s not ‘if,’ it’s just ‘when’ autonomy hits your farm,” he said, adding automation is already arriving through retrofits, robotics, drones and AI-guided equipment.

And all these changes are coming at a time when efficiency, consistency and reliability — traits driven by automation — have become more important on today’s farms than ever before, he said.

This is because Canada, as a middle power increasingly caught between superpowers, remains heavily dependent on export markets.

“We have a huge export dependency,” he said.

At the same time, global demographics are shifting. Population growth is slowing in key regions such as China and Europe, which could flatten future demand and intensify competition among exporting countries.

“If demand growth flattens, competition rises,” Saik said, pointing to countries such as Australia and Brazil as lower-cost competitors.

That reality makes the adoption of AI on farms increasingly important as Canadian farmers fight to remain competitive, he said.

And while many people remain concerned about the threat of AI replacing human jobs, Saik said that won’t happen on farms anytime soon.

While AI excels at prediction and processing massive amounts of information faster than any person ever could, he believes there is still a strong need for human discretion when it comes to farm management.

“There’s two parts to a decision. The first one is prediction, the assimilation of information and data, and the second part … is judgment, and that’s the human factor.”

“AI makes mistakes. I think it will be a long time before AI and technology replace putting shadows on crops. It’s powerful, but it’s not magic.”

But despite AI’s capabilities, he also cautions farmers against blindly trusting “black box” algorithms and emphasized the need for oversight.

“If you’re going to get a lot of information assimilated and put together by AI, you better cross-check that to make sure it’s accurate.”

Furthermore, AI is only as good as the data feeding it, he said.

“AI will not function if the data is crap. It’s amazing, but it will not perform and do what you want it to do if the data stinks. This is really critical.”

He used equipment data as an example, noting that inconsistent naming, formatting and errors can undermine even the most advanced systems.

Saik said there are also other valuable tools, such as precision agriculture, that are still not being widely adopted across Western Canada, which is limiting farm efficiencies.

“I still can’t understand why we aren’t doing more precision agriculture in Western Canada,” he said.

Technologies such as real-time crop sensing, targeted spraying and AI-guided scouting are already delivering major reductions in chemical use, he said.

“This technology is not expensive. We should be doing more.”

Connectivity has been a barrier, but Saik said that is changing quickly.

“You can’t have a smart farm with a stupid internet,” he said, adding that satellite and broadband expansion will make digital tools far more practical across the Prairies.

However, despite challenges such as slow adoption rates and concerns around newer technologies, Saik remains optimistic.

He believes AI brings much opportunity at a time when farmers need any competitive advantage they can get as they navigate volatile markets, tight margins and increasing complexity.

And while AI won’t replace experience or intuition, he believes that ignoring these technologies could leave operations at a disadvantage.

“This one is not going away,” Saik said.