Farm organisations continue to insist that we need new farmers and that we need better policies to attract young people to the countryside. But why isn't farming a fashionable profession?
Some people think it is because of the bad image this profession still has. For a long time, it was seen as hard work, low income and a profession reserved for those who are not worth it or who do not like to study, among other things.
But it has nothing to do with reality, or at least not much more than some other professions. Rural areas are increasingly better connected, they have access to many amenities and the incorporation of machinery and new technologies makes this work more bearable, while giving farmers more freedom.
Technology at the service of the farmer
In recent years, the agricultural sector has undergone great technological development and giant steps have been taken in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), computers, sensors and controllers, as well as specialised machinery, which have opened up infinite possibilities, automating work such as planting, harvesting, spraying, irrigation, etc. with tractors, drones and other types of machinery.
These are tools that not only facilitate the work of professionals in the field, but also have other important consequences:
a) they reduce production costs,
(b) increase productivity,
(c) using inputs more efficiently.
These are good data for the sector but, as in everything else, you cannot let your guard down and must keep working, because according to the FOs, this increase is due to an increase in the volumes produced, both in the crop branch (higher yields) and in the animal branch, and by controlling the cost of inputs, which "help to partially balance the accounts".