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RELX: 87% of US agriculture firms adopting AI

Over three quarters (87%) of US agriculture businesses are currently adopting AI technologies, an increase from 74% at this time last year, a new annual 2021 RELX Emerging Tech Study has revealed. 

The study of over a thousand senior executives in the US, carried out by Proagrica parent RELX through IPSOS Mori, also found that 91% of agriculture industry executives view ethical standards in the development and emerging technologies as a key enabler in ensuring a competitive edge for businesses. 

The agriculture sector’s spending on training also grew, with nine out of 10 executives investing in training to upskill employees using AI technologies, up from 87% in 2020, compared to an industry average of 83%.

“Investment in emerging technologies has been a fixture of the ag sector, even before the pandemic, and these latest figures confirm that this is an industry that is always looking to innovate,” said Lindsay Suddon, chief strategy officer at Proagrica. “It doesn’t come as a surprise to someone who worked in this space for as long as I have.”

Of the eight sectors surveyed, agriculture was second only to insurance and exhibitions, which placed joint first with 88% of executives in the sector adopting AI within their businesses. 

Suddon said that the figures from the study indicate that the ag sector is waking up to the limitations tech fragmentation has placed upon it. “89% of execs feel countries should now share tech and resources, suggesting that we are one step closer to building bridges across the supply chain,” she added. “Technologies such as AI have the potential to anonymise data while helping to uncover insight that creates new opportunities.”