Farmers are using all kinds of technologies and innovations to grow your food. You’ve read about some of them here – genetically modified crops, targeted crop protection and fertilizer use, robotic equipment, sensors, satellite imagery, digital mapping and selective breeding, among them.

Still, if you feel like you should know about them, but don’t, you’re not alone. New research released Monday shows more than a quarter of 1,500 Canadians surveyed can’t cite one example of innovation being used on the farm.

And actually, I suspect that figure is conservative. I’d be shocked if 75 per cent of Canadians could say much more than “farm machinery” when asked for an example of agricultural technology.

Feeding that suspicion is the fact that this new research, explained in a report called 2022 Perceptions of Canadian Agriculture Survey by hi-tech agricultural company Climate Fieldview (a part of multi-national organization Bayer), also revealed that just 13 per cent of Canadians viewed agriculture as more innovative than other domestic industries.

In other words, the popular view of farming as a familiar, grassroots occupation is still very much with us. The simple image that people cling to is hard to shake.

That has its upside. I’ve argued before that if Canadians need to think about farmers in a down-home way to generate support, then let them. After all, trust is key.

But understanding the full, real story about modern, technology-assisted farming is preferable. Besides giving a true picture of agriculture and its importance to the economy, it helps explain the public’s biggest food-related concern: that is, cost.

Here’s why.

Technology costs money. It’s ironic that farmers need to buy expensive equipment to save money. But technology delivers more, for less… for example, more labour with fewer people. In agriculture, workers have been hard to find, for years. Farmers need to do something, so they look towards labour-saving technology.

They also rely on increasingly expensive inputs like fertilizer and pesticides and use technology to apply them in their fields in a more targeted way.

All this and more helps keep farmers’ costs in check. What happens to their harvests once food processors, manufacturers and grocers get involved is another matter.

Yet despite the rising cost of food, the Climate Fieldview research shows that so far, Canadians are distinguishing between their grocery bills and farmers’ role in domestic food security.

In fact, the extreme weather events that occurred in the past year prompted nearly two-thirds of the survey participants to say they have an increased appreciation for Canadian agriculture.

This growth in appreciation is particularly evident in provinces such as BC. There, 76 per cent of survey participants upped their love of farmers after major flooding events impacted key agricultural regions of the province in 2021.

“Canadians are making the connection on the importance of Canadian farmers to our food system,” says Matt Eves, Bayer Digital Farming Lead – Canada.  “Farmers have faced many external challenges in recent years, trying to meet supply demands for Canadians while also striving to innovate to stay ahead of these challenges, while ensuring sustainability remains top of mind.”

However, he finds Canadians’ gap in knowledge about on-farm innovation troubling. It needs to be addressed.

Says Eves: “Public awareness and support for [technology] will be crucial for the industry to continue to innovate to be more sustainable and resilient in order to face ongoing challenges in the future.”