Market Trends of Farm Management Software Industry
This section covers the major market trends shaping the Farm Management Software Market according to our research experts:
Farm Labor Shortage and Decreasing Arable Land
The agriculture labor force has decreased in recent years due to the decreased interest in farming, combined with the aging farmer population. According to the FAO statistics 2021 report, the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector's contribution to employment declined from 896,341 thousand people in 2017 to 873,757 thousand people in 2020. Furthermore, the agricultural industry in the US and the UK, among other countries, depend on laborers, and a similar trend is seen across other developed countries as well. On a similar note, Asia-Pacific, where agriculture, forestry, and fishing occupy a significant part of the economy, is witnessing a massive decline in the workforce, nearly a decline of 618,147 thousand people in 2017 to 589,103 thousand people in 2020.
As technologically assisted agriculture needs skilled laborers that are in acute shortage of availability, precision farmers admire and tend to consume software that can be productive, considering the current challenge. This scenario is one of the major factors that drive the market forward. The decreasing arable land and the increasing global population are among the major reasons driving the market.
Further, according to the World Bank, the area of arable land hectares per person decreased from 0.19 hectares in 2017 to 0.18 hectares in 2020. This pushed growers to increase their productivity per hectare of land available to meet the growing demand for food. Additionally, rising issues, such as environmental safety regarding the usage of crop protection chemicals, led the government of various countries to impose strict regulations on the use of crop protection chemicals. All these changes in the agriculture field are boosting the use of farm management software, which helps farmers increase their productivity and the return on investment. As a result, the shortage of farm labor, with the decreasing area of arable land, is expected to drive the rate of adoption of farm management software among farmers, providing a boost to the overall market during the forecast period.
North America Dominates the Market
In North America, farm management software is anticipated to witness exponential growth in the coming years, owing to the leading industrial automation industry and the adoption of artificial intelligence solutions in the region. The larger farms and awareness among the farmers lead to the quick adoption of modern technologies in developed countries compared to developing nations. This makes the North American region the largest farm management software technologies market.
Over the years, the United States has been at the forefront of deploying precision technology to farming techniques. As per a report by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the average farm size in the United States was 441 acres in 2017, which increased and reached 445 acres in 2021. As large-holding farms are more likely to adopt smart agriculture technologies and software. With an increase in the average farm size in the United States and the shortage of farm laborers, large-holding farmers are well-positioned to use farming software to gain data-driven insights for optimizing crop yields.
Furthermore, players and governments in the region are taking initiatives that are further boosting the market. For instance, in 2022, the Government of Canada invested in the digitization of farming to strengthen the sustainability of Canada's agriculture sector by granting up to USD 419,000 to Mojow Autonomous Solutions Inc., through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, under the AgriScience Program.
Likewise, the protein industries Canada has partnered with Farmers Edge Inc. and OPI systems and invested USD 21 million in the project of data analysis farmers and collecting farm-level data related to plant and storage health management, which can be applied to develop predictive models that may use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning that can help farmers improve production, as well as make better storage and marketing decisions. This is anticipated to increase return on investments in the areas of seed selection, equipment selection, irrigation, and post-harvest management.
Hence, with the integration of digital technologies and artificial intelligence, farmers can manage resources more effectively and efficiently. Therefore, the large-sized farms, high adoption rate by farmers, and government initiatives are boosting the market studied in the region during the forecast period.
