•Experts agree on the benefits of smart farming for Irish agriculture.•Ambiguity surrounds the risks presented by smart farming for Irish agriculture.•Data sharing and ownership is identified as the ...most urgent concern.•The findings reinforce the call for discourse-based management of risks.
As research and innovation around Smart Farming further advances, there is a need to consider the impact of these technologies including the socio-economic, behavioural and cultural issues that may arise from their adoption. The current study explores the perceived risks and benefits arising from the development of Smart Farming in Ireland and in particular focuses on the different interpretations ascribed to risk issues by different actors. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 21 actors who through their professional positions have some level of responsibility for the growth of Smart Farming in Ireland. Although the participants in the current study were largely in agreement about the benefits presented by Smart Farming for Irish agriculture and society, they held different interpretations and opinions when discussing identified risks. The main concerns related to consumer rejection of technologies, inequitable distribution of risks and benefits within the farming community, adverse socio-economic impacts of increased farmer-technology interactions, and ethical threats presented by the collection and sharing of farmers’ data. The current study reinforces how ambiguity can surround the discussion of risks as individuals form perceptions based on divergent value judgements. The findings reinforce the call for discourse-based management of risks and the embedding of frameworks such as Responsible Research and Innovation within Smart Farming.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
As the use of smartphone technology is becoming increasingly popular in the agricultural context, there is a need to consider how farmers have adapted to this form of technology. The current study ...examined the factors which influence Irish farmers’ engagement with smartphone use and new smartphone apps and explored the supports required by farmers to successfully engage with smartphone apps for agriculture use. Seven focus groups were conducted with a total of 41 farmers from four regions in the Republic of Ireland. Findings revealed that factors such as poor broadband internet availability, coupled with a lack of comfort with emerging technologies, technology trust issues, and a perceived lack of sufficient benefits deterred farmers’ engagement with smartphone technology and agricultural apps. Perceived benefits of smartphone engagement also emerged including an enhanced sense of empowerment, a more flexible lifestyle, a reduction in stress, an improvement in time efficiency, an enhanced level of communication between farmers and their respective governing bodies and, an ability to make data-driven decisions on the farm. Perceived support networks to aid farmers in using agricultural apps included farm advisors, family members and peers. The findings outline the importance of understanding the barriers and enablers of farmers’ engagement with smartphones and agricultural apps in Ireland. The findings are of interest to researchers in the field of smart farming technology, as well as developers and providers of agricultural smartphone apps, since this research is one of the first studies to provide information about the underlying factors driving or preventing smartphone and app use among farmers.
•Multiple factors influence farmers' engagement with smart technology.•Barriers include poor internet availability, a lack of comfort and trust with new technologies and a perceived lack of benefits.•Benefits include a more flexible lifestyle and an ability to make data driven farm decisions.•Farm advisors, family and peers were listed as support networks who could help farmers with using smartphone apps.•Findings outline the importance of understanding the barriers and enablers of farmers' engagement with smartphone technology.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
There is growing interest and importance for responsible research and innovation (RRI) among academic scholars and policy makers, especially, in relation to emerging technologies in the agricultural ...context. While the evolution of smart technologies in agriculture has led to an increase of available solutions that can be used by farmers, the RRI process of new farming technology has been minimally detailed in research contributions to date.
This paper thus aims to describe the first 3 phases of a design thinking process to aid with the development of an agricultural innovation, namely, a geotag photo application for use on smart devices.
The design thinking approach involved engaging with target users, such as farmers, farm advisors and inspectors, alongside research scientists, app developers and the national agricultural governing body in Ireland to commence the app development process. This paper describes methodology used to elicit the first three major phases of the design thinking approach: empathise, define and ideation. In the first phase a stakeholder mapping activity was conducted, as well as 7 focus groups and 10 interviews with users and other key actors regarding the challenges and needs related to using the app. The define phase included a reflection of results from the first phase and subsequent development of user-personas and problem statements to inform the third phase. The third phase, ideation, consisted of four interactive user-centred workshops, focusing on app needs, in which ideas and solutions were developed and prioritised.
The design thinking approach supported multiple stakeholders to express and evaluate the benefits and challenges they associated with the initial development phases involved in designing a new geotag photo app. It also revealed that, by including farmers and additional actors in developing new farming technology enables technology developers to harness the full value of multiples types of knowledge and expertise. In conclusion, future research on innovation development should consider that by enabling engagement among a wide variety of actors, such as that offered by the initial stages of design thinking, and attending to a greater diversity of values is essential to the development of a responsible, and responsive, digital tool.
This study is the first to methodically document the early stages of developing a geotag smartphone app using a design thinking approach. This paper will therefore benefit other scholars aiming to include farmers, and other agricultural stakeholders to have an input on the agri-tech development decisions that will ultimately impact their farming lives.
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•Design Thinking was used to develop an app•Methodological development of the app is presented•Design thinking highlighted disparate needs, motivations, and intentions for the app
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The proliferation of social media applications such as online communities, social networking sites, or blogs gives the public new means for receiving, and importantly, providing information. Many ...opportunities are opening up for food risk communicators by the wide variety of social media applications and the digital environment with enormous abilities for storing, retrieving and reusing information. The global nature of today's food chains asks for a global approach in communicating food-related risk and benefit issues. However, the evolution of social media also presents a number of pitfalls related to information accuracy, trust and source credibility. This paper portrays and comments on the structural changes in communication and discusses on the current state of social media as a possible tool for communicating food risks and benefits.
► Food consumers occupy a leading role as communicator and information source. ► Social media imply opportunities and challenges for food risk/benefit communication. ► Public involvement and interaction in food communication are facilitated. ► Social media can be a minefield for inaccurate, incorrect or misleading information. ► Communicating timely in case of a food crisis versus amplifying risk perception?
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
The current research examines the emergent literature of Critical Data Studies, and particularly aligns with Michael and Lupton’s (2016) manifesto calling for researchers to study the Public ...Understanding of Big Data. The aim of this paper is to explore Irish stakeholders’ narratives on data sharing in agriculture, and the ways in which their attitudes towards different data sharing governance models reflect their understandings of data, the impact that data hold in their lives and in the farming sector, as well as their preferences for how data should be governed within agriculture. Seven focus groups were held in 2019 with Irish stakeholders from a variety of backgrounds, including agri-researchers, those working in SMEs, and farmers of varying ages and sectors. The primary activities carried out during these focus groups centred upon asking participants to discuss four different data sharing governance models, and to work their way through a set of value cards relating to these models. Focus group results are studied using an inductive, data-driven form of thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke 2006). Five primary themes cross-cut these focus groups: 1) Desire for a data intermediary, 2) Reversing the value chain, 3) Categorisation of data, 4) The common good, and 5) Potential danger in data sharing. These themes are explored in the paper through a detailed discussion of the focus group results, in which the authors track the manifestation of these themes across focus groups, and the ways they sometimes morphed or changed depending upon the participating stakeholder group.
In dairy farming, mastitis treatment is the most common reason for antimicrobial use. The overuse or misuse of antibiotics in agriculture has been associated with the development and spread of ...antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Traditionally, blanket dry cow therapy (BDCT), in which all cows receive antibiotic treatment, was used prophylactically to prevent and manage disease spread. In recent years, there has been a move toward selective dry cow therapy (SDCT), in which only clinically infected cows are treated with antibiotics. This study aimed to explore farmer attitudes toward antibiotic use (ABU), using the COM-B (Capability-Opportunity-Motivation-Behavior) model as a framework, to identify predictors of changing behavior toward SDCT and suggest interventions to encourage its uptake. Participant farmers (n = 240) were surveyed online between March and July 2021. Five items were found to be significant predictors of farmers having stopped BDCT: (1) having lower knowledge of AMR, (2) greater awareness of AMR and ABU (Capability), (3) feeling social pressure to reduce ABU (Opportunity), and (4) having greater professional identity, and (5) having positive emotions associated with stopping BDCT (Motivation). Direct logistic regression found that these 5 factors explained between 22 and 34.1% of the variance in making changes to BDCT practices. Additionally, objective knowledge was not correlated with current positive antibiotic practices, and farmers often perceived their antibiotic practices as more responsible than they actually were. A multifaceted approach, encompassing each of the predictors highlighted, should be taken to encourage farmer behavior change in relation to stopping BDCT. Additionally, as farmers' perceptions of their own behaviors may not align with their actual practices, awareness raising of what constitutes “responsible” behavior should be targeted at dairy farmers to motivate them to take action and adopt more responsible antibiotic practices.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Abstract
How research impact is defined and evaluated is much-debated at research policy level. Offering one avenue for capturing societal research impact, altmetrics are proposed as quantitative ...indicators providing a measure of the reach and attention that a research output, such as a peer-reviewed paper, is receiving online. Eighty publicly-funded food researchers participated in an online mixed-methods engagement study. The analytical framework of sensemaking was used to explore participants’ views of altmetrics as a threat or opportunity for their perceived professional identities. The identities important to our participants included ensuring rigour and quality in knowledge production; communicating and engaging with non-academic audiences; and bringing about tangible and meaningful changes in society. While an appetite for changes to research evaluation was apparent in our study, altmetrics was perceived to introduce a number of different threats as well as opportunities to the academic identity, which will influence its potential uptake and use.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract Background The threat of antimicrobial resistance is triggering the need for behavioural change towards antimicrobial use on Irish farms. Newly introduced veterinary medicine regulations are ...mandating the restricted and more prudent use of antimicrobials in the animal health sector. The need to reduce antimicrobials has placed a greater emphasis on the importance of animal health testing, however, issues with current testing practices are affecting diagnosis and subsequent drug usage. There is potential for digital technologies to address these issues and reduce antimicrobial use on farms, however, for these tools to be successful, they would need to be developed in collaboration with future end users. Results Using qualitative approaches (focus groups), this study engages with dairy farmers and farm veterinary practitioners to detail current challenges with animal health diagnosis and to explore the initial development of a rapid, on-farm animal health testing tool to address these challenges. Issues with timing and testing, the role of knowledge and experience, and veterinarian availability all affect the ability of farmers and veterinarians to diagnose animal health issues on farm. These issues are having negative implications including the increased and unnecessary use of antimicrobials. An on-farm testing tool would help mitigate these effects by allowing veterinarians to achieve rapid diagnosis, facilitating the timely and targeted treatment of animal illnesses, helping to reduce overall antimicrobial use on farms. However, engagement with end users has highlighted that if a tool like this is not developed correctly, it could have unintended negative consequences such as misdiagnosis, increased antimicrobial use, challenges to farmer-veterinarian relationships, and data misuse. This study outlines initial end user needs and requirements for a testing tool but suggests that in order to successfully design and develop this tool, co-design approaches such as Design Thinking should be applied; to mitigate future negative impacts, and to ensure a testing tool like this is designed specifically to address Irish dairy farmers and farm veterinarians’ values and needs, ensuring responsible and successful uptake and use. Conclusions Digital tools can be effective in reducing antimicrobial use on farms, however, to be successful, these tools should be designed in a user centred way.
Narratives dominate the agricultural discourse that digitalisation is the ‘silver bullet’ to agricultural, environmental, and global issues, resulting in an external push towards automation and a ...rapid increase in digital technologies in the sector. Concentrated productivist views and techno-optimist hype and momentum is carrying us briskly towards a digital farming revolution, with little conversation or consideration of the social impacts of digitalisation. The application of social science research to digital agriculture is relatively new and the pace at which it has been developing to keep up with digital advances in the sector has left this body of literature scattered and lacking sufficient overview.
To address this, a scoping study was conducted on social and behavioural science literature related to digital agriculture.
This scoping study, which incorporates 200 references, pays particular attention to stakeholder engagement and how agricultural digitalisation has been developing. This methodology enables us to provide an extensive overview of this field of research, presenting key themes pertaining to the literature including barriers and facilitators of, as well as anticipated positive and negative impacts of digital technology adoption.
We find that whilst there has been a general win-win, techno-positive narrative in the agricultural sector, proof of these benefits is limited and some technologies are eliciting negative effects to its users, transforming the landscape of agriculture.
In order to be responsive to these negative consequences, it is important that we turn our attention upstream to examine how technologies are designed and developed for use in an agricultural context. This can be achieved by integrating more inclusive approaches to technology design. These approaches will help to mitigate negative effects of technologies, help to create successful and responsible innovations, tackle low adoption issues, and help to create more responsible digital futures.
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•There is a lack of overview of how digital agriculture is developing.•A scoping study was conducted on 200 social science papers relative to digital agriculture.•Digital technologies elicit both positive and negative effects.•Stakeholder engagement is predominantly used to examine or establish reasons as to why farmers are not adopting technology.•A more inclusive approach to technology design and development is needed to mitigate negative effects of technologies.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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