Digital Farming: Nearly One in Eight Farms Has an Online Store
According to a recent survey, 12% of German farms now operate a digital farm store, up from 7% in 2022.
Where do our vegetables come from? How was the pig on our barbecue raised? What does everyday life on a farm look like? Through livestreams of harvests or social media posts from barns, farms are increasingly using digital technologies to provide insights into the origins and production conditions of our food.
Farms are primarily focusing on social networks and their own websites to share this information. Currently, 28% of farms in Germany are active on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn, up from just 19% two years ago. This puts social media slightly ahead of farm websites, with a quarter (25%) of farms now using their own sites to provide information about their operations, products, and contact details. In 2022, only 16% of farms had their own website. These findings come from a survey of 500 farms commissioned by the digital association Bitkom.
Jana Moritz, Digital Farming Officer at Bitkom, explains, “Social media, in particular, offers an uncomplicated and low-threshold way to provide authentic insights into everyday life and production conditions on farms, thus fostering closer connections with consumers.” Overall, 81% of farmers believe that digitalisation will make agricultural production more transparent.
Direct Marketing Online
Webcams provide direct insights into farm processes and conditions, allowing people to observe activities in barns or fields online. Currently, 8% of farms use such webcams, up from 6% in 2022.
The adoption of digital technologies also directly promotes product sales. Half of the farmers (52%) report that these technologies open up new distribution and sales opportunities, particularly by facilitating direct marketing. This trend is gaining popularity: 12% of farms now utilise a digital farm store or an online platform for direct marketing, compared to 7% in 2022.
The Bitkom expert notes, “Establishing online direct marketing as a new regional sales channel can serve as an additional source of income for farms. This can be achieved with fewer resources than maintaining a traditional, physical farm store.”
