"The farmers of the Ebro Valley work with cutting-edge technology. I have visited agricultural farms in several countries around the world, such as the United States or Australia, and we have nothing to envy them." So emphatic was the farmer from Peralta (Navarra), Guillermo Asín, who at an event held in Huesca last Tuesday explained how he uses social media to disseminate his analyses in the field and share them with farmers from other parts of Spain.
"Digitalization and technology are not an end in themselves, but an indispensable strategic means to ensure the profitability of the farms, ensure generational change, and retain population in our rural territories,” stated the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food of Spain, Luis Planas, a day earlier at the Ibero-American Technological Forum on Digital Agriculture Technology and Smart Irrigation 2026 held this week at La Vega Innova, the digital innovation center recently created by the Ministry at its facilities in San Fernando de Henares and which the minister considers his "pet project".
AI in the field
Contrary to what the collective imagination suggests, the agricultural sector is one of the sectors where innovation and digitalization have been taking root for some time, with the aim of reducing production costs, facilitating the work of its professionals, and being more sustainable. Screens are common in agricultural machinery, just as the use of cameras in animal farms, so that the mobile phone can be considered one of the most common working tools for farmers or ranchers.
“We are at the peak moment of digitalization and AI in the primary sector, but most of these tools applied to the field are not mature enough to behave as they should,” considers the coordinator of the Master's in Digital Transformation of the agri-food and forestry sector at Etsiam de Córdoba, Rafael González.
Furthermore, just as happens in other sectors, companies and the use of technology are ahead of legislation, and there are regulations that the sector believes should be updated with some urgency, such as the use of drones for the application of phytosanitary products, which is only allowed in cases where they are chemical-free products [European legislation prohibits the application of these chemical treatments via airplanes except in exceptional cases].
As González pointed out, not all farms and ranches are at the same level of innovation and technologization, and to accelerate this process, the European Commission organized this week AgRi 2040, a meeting to identify, co-create, and update the research and innovation needs in agriculture, forestry, and rural areas. AgRI 2040 focused on eight areas: soil and water, agricultural systems, livestock systems, bioeconomy, multifunctional forests, rural areas, agri-food chain, and digitalization, robotics, and AI.
AI in agriculture
The use of AI in agriculture is being applied in different aspects, one of the most common being applications to know the climate and meteorology.
Decades ago, tractors incorporated automated guidance to avoid overlap in the different passes through the farms. Likewise, screens are a practically essential device in the use of any machinery such as harvesters, seeders, etc.
It has also been many years since remote sensing technologies (via satellite or drones) can be used to map the farms and know the situation of the crops and thus know the optimal time to harvest, optimize irrigation, and adjust the application of fertilizers or phytosanitary products to parts of the farms based on the development of the plants or the advance of diseases and pests.
In irrigation, the use of sensors helps to control the soil moisture, decades ago the most advanced farmers could control irrigation from their mobiles (although it is always advisable to check it on-site), and in the Department of Agronomy at the University of Córdoba, a predictive model to predict water consumption in irrigation communities has been designed that is still being tested.
Obviously, all this technology multiplies in greenhouses, where the high value of crops under plastic (fruits and vegetables) has helped farmers invest in devices that control temperature, humidity, and the evolution of crops.
AI in livestock
Possibly, Spain is one of the countries in the world with the most advanced technology in pig farming, as it is a leader there. In the most modern breeding sow farms, each one receives specific feeding based on its needs that the dispensing machine detects through the identifying ear tag of each individual.
There are also devices that help control the situation of the farm remotely, with sensors that measure the temperature and modify it according to needs, or cameras that help know the situation of the animals when the farmer is away.
In extensive livestock farming, among the devices that are having a better reception are the electric shepherd (an electrified fence that serves to delimit the space in which the livestock is and that when the animal approaches it too closely generates a shock like a cramp) and the GPS collars that are used to know the location of cattle, sheep, and goats, (mainly) but also if their health status is optimal, since other parameters such as their movement or even temperature can be measured.
Effectiveness and trust
For the coordinator of the Master's in Digital Transformation of the agri-food and forestry sector at Etsiam, Rafael González, there are two essential factors for agricultural sector professionals to adopt advanced technologies such as those provided by data analysis and AI: “One is who presents the technology to the professional who will use it. Whether or not a technology is acquired depends a lot on the trust that the person offering it provides.” And secondly, he adds “what is essential is that it is demonstrated that this technology provides some benefit, in sustainability, profitability, convenience... If there are no benefits, it will not be incorporated either,” he concludes.
And that is what is happening with the use of drones for the application of phytosanitary products.
Adapting legislation
The European Union prohibited the application of phytosanitary products by aerial means through Regulation 1107/2009 with the aim of making more sustainable use and reducing their risks to human health and the environment. However, it is being seen that phytosanitary treatment with drones can be very positive because it can be carried out in certain areas of the farm, without stepping on the crop, being safe for humans and the environment.
From the Association of Companies for the Protection of Plants, AEPLA, it is noted that other European states such as Hungary and Bulgaria have developed more flexible regulations that allow the application of phytosanitary products with drones to not be as exceptional as dictated by Europe and therefore, encourages the Government of Spain to also take the appropriate measures. “If it is already being used in the field, it is preferable to legislate than to have it used more,” sources from AEPLA point out.