Farmers are buying precision tech but cost still stalls deals

This is not your grandparent’s farm.

Auto-guidance technology is now standard on most farms across Canada and the United States, showing how farmers across both countries are embracing AgTech.

CNH’s inaugural Farmer Pulse report is based on a May 2026 survey of 217 farmers and ranchers across the U.S. and Canada. The report found that precision agriculture has moved past the pilot stage, with 89% using auto-guidance and 71% calling precision technology important to their operation’s success. Just over half (54%) plan to invest in additional precision technology within the next two years.

Farmers are the backbone of our food system. They want easy-to-use solutions, and reliability and ROI are critical. Key reasons for adopting precision technology, the report found, is reducing input costs (74%), saving time and improving labour efficiency (70%), and increasing yields (59%).

There are still plenty of barriers getting in the way of broader tech adoption for both those working in agriculture and the vendors selling into it. 

Cost is the top blocker (56%), followed by ROI uncertainties (36%), a need for more training (21%), connectivity (13%), and ease of use (11%). Farmers, like most tech buyers, want to make sure there is a solid value case for more investment. 

They want proof that it’s worth their (very) hard work.

“The opportunity now is to remove the barriers that slow adoption by delivering solutions that are intuitive, reliable, and built around the realities of farming,” says Eric Shuman, global product management for precision technology at CNH.

Precision technology has cleared the initial adoption hurdle. Now, tech leaders need to prove what it delivers.

Final shots

• 89% of surveyed farmers now use auto-guidance technology, and 71% call precision tech important to their operation’s success.
• Cost (56%) and ROI uncertainty (36%) remain the top barriers to further investment, not the technology itself.