More and more Canadian farmers are adopting mobile technology to help them manage and improve their businesses, an industry group survey found.
Farmers have been as quick to purchase a smartphone or a tablet computer as other Canadians, a release from Farm Credit Canada said Tuesday.
With a strong Internet connection, mobile devices can turn vehicles and farm machinery into a mobile office where producers can place orders, market products, and monitor weather, interest rates and grain markets, said Farm Credit Canada, the country's largest agricultural lender.
"Getting access to relevant financial data and economic information can be a real advantage in a fast-moving marketplace," Jean-Philippe Gervais, a senior agriculture economist for the lender, said.
"Innovation has always been a major driver of profitability in agriculture and mobile technology is just one more tool available to gain a competitive edge."
More than half of Canadian producers who own a smartphone today plan to buy a tablet within two years, the survey found.
"Canadian producers are innovative and have historically adopted new technology so we weren't surprised by the survey results," Farm Credit Canada Chief Operating Officer Remi Lemoine said.
