Farming Futures: 7 Ranked Technologies Plus Vertical Farms

Farming futures are being shaped less by robots than by quieter tools that farmers already buy: GPS guidance, yield monitors, variable rate equipment and satellite images. USDA’s Economic Research Service found that auto-steer guidance went from 5.3% of planted corn acres in 2001 to 58% in 2016, while drones, aircraft and satellite imagery stayed under 10% of acres for every crop it surveyed (USDA ERS, Precision Agriculture in the Digital Era, 2023).

This guide ranks eight farm technologies by how widely US farms use them, says what each one is best for, and shows the measured effect on labour and net returns where a study exists. It ends with a calculator that tests whether a guidance system can pay for itself on your own acres. One note on the name: this page is about the future of farming, not agricultural futures contracts. Those are covered at the end.

What “farming futures” means for a working farm

When farmers talk about the future of their business, three pressures come up again and again. Labour is hard to find and costly. Input prices swing. Weather is less predictable. New technology matters only when it helps with one of these.

The FAO puts the labour point plainly. In its report on agricultural automation, it says that falling rural labour supply, seen in rising farm wages, is a main driver of automation in many countries (FAO, The State of Food and Agriculture 2022). The same report warns that larger and better-educated producers find it easier to invest, so the gains are not shared evenly.

In the United States, the long-run shift is clear. USDA’s farm labour data show that self-employed and family farmworkers fell from 7.60 million in 1950 to 2.06 million in 2000, a 73% drop, as machines took over work done by hand (USDA ERS, Farm Labor). Hired labour still matters a great deal in some sectors. The same page reports that, in the 2022 Census of Agriculture, wages and contract labour made up 42% of production expenses for greenhouse and nursery operations.

So the useful question is not “what is the newest gadget?” It is “which tool cuts my labour, input waste or risk enough to pay for itself?” The rest of this guide answers that with data.

How we ranked these technologies

We ranked tools by measured adoption on US farms, not by hype or by market forecasts. The main source is USDA’s Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), as analysed in the ERS report cited above. ARMS asks farmers crop by crop whether they used a tool on a field, so the numbers are shares of planted acres, not shares of farms.

Where ARMS has no data, we used the 2022 Census of Agriculture, university extension studies and peer-reviewed papers. We left out tools with no public adoption or return data. Market-size forecasts from private research firms were not used because they measure sales, not results on farms.

• Adoption: share of planted acres using the tool, from ARMS.
• Measured effect: labour hours or net returns from a published study, where one exists.
• Barrier: the main reason farms do not adopt, as named by the source.

The technologies shaping farming futures, ranked

Entries 1 to 7 are ranked from the most widely used to the least, using USDA ARMS adoption data. The first four are already mainstream on large row-crop farms. Vertical farming is listed eighth but is unranked, because ARMS does not measure it.

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Precision tools on US corn acres

Percent of planted corn acres using each tool, 2016 ARMS survey

1. Yield monitors

A yield monitor on the combine records how much grain comes off each part of a field. ARMS found yield monitors on 61.6% of corn-planted acres in 2016 and 80.5% of winter wheat acres in 2017 (USDA ERS, 2023). That makes them one of the most widely used digital tools on US grain acres.

Best for: grain farms that want field-by-field records to guide seed, fertilizer and drainage decisions. A monitor on its own gives numbers. The value comes when those numbers are turned into maps and compared across years.

2. GPS guidance and auto-steer

Guidance systems steer the tractor along straight, repeatable passes. Auto-steer was used on 58% of planted corn acres in 2016, up from 5.3% in 2001, and estimates for 2019 put it at 72.9% of sorghum acres and 64.5% of cotton acres (USDA ERS, 2023). The same report says GPS applications were used on 40% of all US farm and ranchland acres for production in 2019.

Best for: any farm that plants, sprays or tills large blocks. Iowa State University measured an average 3.3% overlap during planting on two Iowa farms that had no precision tools in 2011, across more than 2,500 acres of field work (Iowa State University Extension, Precision Ag Technology Savings). Less overlap means less seed, fuel and chemical spent twice on the same ground.

3. Yield maps

Yield maps turn monitor data into a picture of the field. Adoption rose from 5.3% of soybean-planted acres in 1996 to 43.8% in 2018, and from 7.7% of corn acres in 1997 to 43.7% in 2016 (USDA ERS, 2023). Other crops lag: yield maps covered 22.7% of sorghum acres in 2019 and 15.2% of cotton acres in 2019.

Best for: finding low spots, drainage problems and weak zones that repeat year after year. Maps also make it easier to talk to a lender or landlord with real numbers.

4. Variable rate technology (VRT)

VRT changes the rate of seed, fertilizer, lime or pesticide as the machine moves across the field. It was used on 37.4% of corn-planted acres in 2016 and 25.3% of soybean acres in 2018. On other crops it ranged from 13.9% for sorghum to 22.7% for cotton in 2019 (USDA ERS, 2023).

Best for: fields with clear differences in soil or yield potential. If a field is uniform, a single rate may do just as well. For fertilizer and pesticide rates, always follow the product label and local rules, and ask an agronomist before changing rates.

5. Automated section control

Section control shuts off planter rows or sprayer boom sections as they cross ground already covered or the field edge. ARMS found it on 41% of US cotton acres, 45% of sorghum acres and 48% of barley acres in 2019 (USDA ERS, 2023). It works best paired with guidance.

Best for: irregular fields with point rows, waterways and many headlands, where overlap is highest.

6. Soil maps

Georeferenced soil maps come from grid or zone sampling. They are still used on less than a quarter of acres: 21.5% of corn acres in 2016 and 14.3% of soybean acres in 2018 (USDA ERS, 2023). Sampling costs money and time, which keeps adoption lower than for tools that come built into new machines.

Best for: setting up variable rate lime and fertilizer plans. A soil map made once can guide decisions for several seasons.

7. Drones, aircraft and satellite imagery

Images from above show crop stress, flood damage and uneven growth. ARMS adoption was low: 7.0% of corn acres in 2016, 9.8% of soybean acres in 2018, 3.5% of winter wheat acres in 2017, 2.8% of cotton acres and 4.6% of sorghum acres in 2019 (USDA ERS, 2023). These numbers are now several years old, so current use may be higher.

Best for: large or spread-out farms where walking every field each week is not possible. A satellite map shows where plants look different. It does not tell you why. Someone still needs to visit the field to find the cause. Services such as the Farmonaut Satellite + AI Farm Monitoring System deliver vegetation maps of each field through the season on a phone or computer.

8. Controlled environment and vertical farming (unranked)

Vertical farms grow crops in stacked layers under lights, indoors. A USDA Agricultural Research Service interview notes that for some crops, yield per acre can be 10 to 20 times that of open fields (USDA ARS, Vertical Farming: No Longer a Futuristic Concept). The catch is power. A review of published studies found vertical farms turn purchased electricity into food energy at only about 1% to 2% efficiency, and that electricity costs limit competitive production of staple crops (Vertical farming limitations, PMC, 2025). For a closer look at the business side, a 2025 study compared the costs and returns of two commercial vertical farms in Italy (Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 2025).

Best for: leafy greens and herbs sold close to cities, where freshness earns a premium. Not a replacement for field corn, wheat or rice.

Farm technology adoption at a glance

The table sums up the eight tools. Shares are of planted acres in the ARMS survey year named.

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How fast adoption grew

Percent of planted acres, first and latest ARMS survey years for each tool and crop

What precision tools do to labour and profit

Adoption tells you what farmers buy. It does not tell you if the tools pay. Here the evidence is more modest than sales brochures suggest.

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Effect on net returns, corn farms

Estimated percent change in net returns for adopters vs nonadopters

Using ARMS data on corn fields, an ERS study by Schimmelpfennig (2016) found small positive effects on net returns: 1.8% for soil and yield mapping, 1.5% for guidance systems and 1.1% for VRT (USDA ERS, 2023). These are averages. Results on a given farm can be higher or lower.

Labour savings look larger. In a sample of corn fields in 10 Midwestern states, adopters of yield and soil maps used 0.15 labour hours per acre, half the 0.30 hours of nonadopters. Guidance adopters worked 49% fewer hours per acre, and VRT adopters 41% fewer (USDA ERS, 2023). The report cautions that these gaps are unlikely to come mainly from the tools: larger operations adopt more, and they also use other labour-saving equipment and practices such as conservation tillage.

Farm size is the biggest divider. ERS reports that, except for cotton, less than 25% of smaller farms used yield maps, soil maps, VRT or guidance, while at least half of large row-crop farms did. Among the largest farms, guidance adoption reached 73% for corn in 2016 and 82% for winter wheat in 2017 (USDA ERS, 2023).

New tools also create new jobs. Researchers at the University of Illinois note that the US Bureau of Labor Statistics counted about 36,830 farm equipment mechanics and service technicians in 2023, and that industry sources report a shortage of qualified technicians (farmdoc daily, University of Illinois, January 2026). A breakdown at planting time can cost more than the tool saved, so local dealer support matters when you choose a system.

How many US farms use precision agriculture

Acre shares are high because big farms farm most acres. Farm counts tell a different story. The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 226,092 farms using precision agriculture practices (USDA NASS, 2022 Census of Agriculture), out of about 1.9 million farms in total. That is roughly one farm in eight.

ERS found the same pattern in ARMS: in 2013 and 2019, roughly 12% of all US farms used GPS-based tools, but those farms covered 37% and 40% of farm and ranch acres (USDA ERS, 2023). GPS use was under 10% of farm and ranch acres in some Eastern states, such as Massachusetts, New Hampshire and West Virginia.

For small and mid-size farms, the first step does not need to be a new tractor. Phone apps, satellite crop maps and simple soil tests cost far less than in-cab hardware, and they build the field records that later decisions need.

▶ Six plain steps to start precision agriculture on a smaller farm without buying a robot. · 4:18

Sustainability and farming futures

Many of the same tools that cut cost also cut waste. Less overlap means less fertilizer and pesticide applied twice. Better maps help keep inputs off low-yield ground where they are not paying back. The FAO says automation can raise resource-use efficiency and support environmental sustainability, if the right conditions are in place (FAO, 2022).

Field practices still do most of the work. Cover crops, reduced tillage, mixed crop and livestock systems and careful nutrient timing protect soil and water whatever machine you drive. Technology helps measure and target these practices. It does not replace them.

Carbon programmes are one area where digital records help. Buyers of farm carbon credits ask for proof of practice change, and field-level maps and records make that easier to supply. Rules differ by programme and country, so read the contract and get professional advice before you sign.

▶ Seven green farming technologies that save water, fuel and fertilizer, ranked in a short claymation explainer. · 2:24

Data, platforms and farm management

Every tool above produces data. The hard part is pulling it into one place. Yield files, soil tests, spray records, weather and satellite maps often sit in different apps from different brands.

A few habits help:

• Keep field boundaries consistent across every app, so data lines up year to year.
• Calibrate yield monitors each season, or the maps will mislead.
• Check who owns your data in each service agreement, and whether you can export it.
• Compare at least three years before acting on a weak zone; one bad year may just be weather.

Larger operations and agribusinesses often need team tools: task lists for field staff, machine tracking and shared maps. Some use satellite data through an API so it flows into their own farm software. For fertilizer and pesticide records, keep to the label and to local record-keeping rules.

▶ How satellites, AI and drones help farmers manage fields and grow food with less waste. · 13:27

Will a guidance system pay on my farm?

Guidance is the most common big-ticket tool, so it is a good test case. The saving depends on how much overlap you have now, how much the system removes, and how much you spend per acre on inputs that overlap affects (seed, fertilizer, chemicals, fuel). Iowa State’s 3.3% planting overlap is one measured example, not a rule for every farm.

Use the calculator below with your own numbers. The defaults are round example values set near break-even, not benchmarks.

Try the numbers for your own farm below.

Agricultural futures contracts: a different meaning

Some readers search “farming futures” looking for commodity futures, not farm technology. A futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell a commodity, such as corn or wheat, at a set price on a later date. The CFTC glossary defines the terms used in these markets.

Farmers use futures and options to hedge, which means locking in part of a price before harvest. Crop insurance and farm loans are other ways to manage risk. These are financial and legal decisions. Talk to a licensed broker, your lender or a farm business adviser before trading, and check the rules in your country.

Challenges that slow farm technology

• Cost: in-cab systems are a large upfront spend, which is why large farms adopt first (USDA ERS, 2023).
• Skills and service: fewer technicians than the market needs, as farmdoc daily reports.
• Connectivity: many rural areas still have weak mobile signal, which limits live data.
• Data overload: maps are useful only if someone has time to read them.
• Fair access: the FAO warns that automation can widen gaps between large and small producers.

A practical path is to start with one tool that solves a problem you already have, measure the result for a season or two, and then add the next one.

Related pages on our site: satellite crop monitoring, large-farm admin app, farm fleet tracking, satellite and weather API, carbon footprint tracking, product traceability, satellite data for crop loans and insurance, sustainable resource management steps, get the app.

FAQ

What technology will shape the future of farming?

On US farms, the tools with the widest use are yield monitors, GPS guidance, yield maps and variable rate equipment. Each covered between about 37% and 62% of corn acres in 2016 (USDA ERS). Satellite imagery, drones and robots are growing from a smaller base.

Does precision agriculture increase profit?

Average effects in USDA studies were small but positive: 1.8% higher net returns for soil and yield mapping, 1.5% for guidance and 1.1% for VRT. Adopters also used fewer labour hours, though farm size explains much of that. Results depend on farm size and how well the data is used.

Is farm technology only for large farms?

Large farms adopt first because they spread the cost over more acres. Smaller farms can start with lower-cost tools such as satellite crop maps, phone apps and soil tests before buying in-cab hardware.

Is vertical farming the future of food?

It suits leafy greens and herbs near cities. A 2025 review found electricity costs make staple crops such as wheat and rice uncompetitive indoors, so field farming will stay the main source of staple food.

Are farming futures the same as commodity futures?

No. This page covers the future of farm technology. Commodity futures are traded contracts for crops such as corn and wheat. Get advice from a licensed broker before trading.