Farmers are increasingly embracing agri-tech, but high costs and doubts over returns continue to hold back wider adoption
Farmers are showing a growing appetite for new technology, but cost and the financial risk of trying unproven systems remain significant barriers to adoption, according to new Tesco research.
A survey of 151 farmers in the retailer’s supply chain found that 58% had introduced an innovation over the past year, compared with 46% in Tesco’s 2025 survey.
Yet 76% still described getting new technology onto farms as challenging or very challenging, suggesting enthusiasm for innovation is growing faster than some businesses’ ability to invest in it.
Funding emerged as a major concern, with 72% of respondents saying they wanted government and retailers to make more financial support available for agricultural technology.
Almost half, 48%, also called for subsidised opportunities to trial new systems before committing to them, nine percentage points higher than in Tesco’s survey last year.
The findings suggest farmers are not necessarily resistant to new technology, but many want greater confidence that an investment will deliver a worthwhile return before putting their own capital at risk.
That issue is particularly important when margins are under pressure and new equipment, sensors or software can involve substantial upfront costs.
Farmers surveyed were broadly positive about the potential benefits of innovation.
Some 83% agreed that new technology could improve farm efficiency, while 72% believed it could help improve profitability.
Tesco said the results highlighted the need to make it easier for farmers to test promising technologies in commercial conditions and understand whether they are suitable for their businesses.
Claire Lorains, Tesco’s group quality, technical and sustainability director, said farmers increasingly recognised the role innovation could play in improving productivity, efficiency and resilience.
The survey was carried out online and at agricultural shows between 27 July and 21 August and involved farmers supplying Tesco across the UK.
Its findings were released alongside the winners of the retailer’s 2026 Agri-tech Challenge, which aims to help emerging agricultural technologies move closer to commercial use.
Swiss company AgroSustain won the early-stage category with Tornado, a crop coating designed to help plants cope with environmental stresses including drought and salinity.
The company says the coating uses edible ingredients to create a physical barrier on plant surfaces and could help improve crop resilience under difficult growing conditions.
As part of its win, AgroSustain will receive introductions to Tesco suppliers and an opportunity to trial the technology with one of the retailer’s supply-chain partners.
Aberdeenshire-based Herd Advance won the late-stage category with Stockman, an automated cattle monitoring and management system.
The technology records information including animal weight, water intake and temperature while cattle drink, allowing farmers to monitor performance without repeatedly gathering and handling animals.
It can also automatically draft selected cattle between pens according to criteria set by the farmer.
Herd Advance says the system can reduce the amount of manual handling required while giving farmers earlier access to information about individual animal performance and health.
The company will now receive specialist mentoring and the opportunity to trial Stockman within Tesco’s beef supply chain.
Both winners will also gain access to the retailer’s sustainable agriculture team and supplier network.
But the survey suggests the wider challenge for agricultural technology is no longer simply developing new products.
For farmers, the question is increasingly whether new systems can demonstrate a clear commercial benefit and whether businesses can afford to test and adopt them without taking on excessive financial risk.
The figures indicate that interest in farm technology remains strong, but access to funding, trial opportunities and evidence of return on investment could determine how quickly promising innovations move from demonstrations and pilot projects into routine use on commercial farms.
For technology developers, retailers and government, that raises a wider question over how innovation can be brought onto farms without farmers being expected to shoulder all of the cost and risk themselves.