The state of digitalisation in EU agriculture

Juan Tur Cardona (), Pavel Ciaian (), Federico Antonioli (), Thomas Fellmann (), Francesco Rocciola, Irene Ierardi, Rocco Crimeni and Evangelos Anastasiou
Additional contact information
Juan Tur Cardona: European Commission - JRC, https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/index_en
Pavel Ciaian: European Commission - JRC, https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/index_en
Federico Antonioli: European Commission - JRC, https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/index_en
Thomas Fellmann: European Commission - JRC, https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/index_en

No JRC141259, JRC Research Reports from Joint Research Centre

Abstract: "The digitalisation of the EU agricultural sector is an essential part of the broader EU Digital Agenda and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) aiming to promote competitiveness, sustainability, and resilience in agriculture through digital transformation. This report analyses the current state of digitalisation in EU agriculture, covering the adoption of general IT and software tools and farm-specific technologies, key drivers and barriers, perceived sustainability aspects, and farm-level practices in data collection, management and sharing. The analysis is based on farm survey data from 1 444 respondents in nine EU Member States – Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Lithuania, Hungary and Poland – collected between June and October 2024. The results show that while general IT and software tools are widely used, more expensive technologies specific to crop or livestock production have been less widely adopted. Adoption rates are higher among larger farms, those with better internet connectivity and those with specialised training. Key drivers of adoption include efficiency gains, cost savings, regulatory pressures and improved quality of life, while high costs and limited skills remain notable barriers. Farmers expect digital technologies to have positive economic, environmental and social impacts. Farm-level data collection is still largely manual or based on basic digital tools, which increases the administrative burden on farmers. Farmers appear to take a selective approach to data sharing, mainly due to concerns about privacy, security and data control. Promoting transparent data policies, ensuring farmers benefit from sharing and adopting a targeted policy approach for advanced technologies can help build trust and support wider digital adoption."

Date: 2025-09
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC141259 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc141259

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in JRC Research Reports from Joint Research Centre Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Publication Officer ().