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Video Game Pro? Why Not Join Our Farm: Farmers Seek New Skills to Attract Workers

by Michael Wolf
January 15, 2025January 15, 2025Filed under:
  • Ag Tech
  • CES
  • News
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It’s no secret that farmers face a significant labor crunch, one that’s expected to worsen over the next few years.

One major reason is farmers’ heavy reliance on migrant labor. Unfortunately, there may be far fewer workers available from this vital labor pool in the coming years. Threats of mass deportations under the Trump administration have left many in the agriculture and food industries concerned about the potential impacts on their partners and the broader food supply chain.

“Our ability to feed ourselves as a country is completely jeopardized if you do see the mass deportations,” said Rick Naerebout, CEO of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association, in a recent interview.

Compounding this issue is the reality that the average farmer is getting up there in years, with the current average age being 58. Many of these farmers have no succession plan, as younger generations from farm families often show little interest in taking over the family business. As a result, many farms currently producing food may be sold off to developers within the next decade.

But what if new technology could make farming jobs more attractive? According to Tim Bucher, CEO of Agtonomy, one way to address the labor shortage is to reframe farming jobs to appeal to workers with skills gained from unexpected areas, such as video games.

At last week’s CES Ag Tech Summit, hosted by The Spoon, Bucher shared the story of one of Agtonomy’s farming partners who faced a crippling labor shortage. Traditional job postings for tractor drivers had failed to attract candidates, so the partner took a bold step: they adjusted the job description to emphasize “video game experience” for the role of an “AgTech Operator.” The results were remarkable.

“The resume flow exploded,” said Bucher. “They hired ag tech operators who had never set foot in a tractor but were able to operate them and accomplish incredible work.”

This move to leverage new skills goes beyond farming. Some startups are creating platforms specifically optimized for integrating video games and virtual reality expertise. For example, Carbon Origins, a company The Spoon covered at CES three years ago, developed a system that uses virtual reality to operate a bulldozer called “Bobby.” These innovations highlight how skills traditionally seen as unrelated to agriculture or construction are now becoming valuable assets in reimagining labor-intensive industries.

AI and Data Are the New Tractor

In addition to using technology to attract new workers, the technology itself—such as AI and automation—may ultimately be the key to saving many farms that operate on razor-thin margins and struggle to survive in the face of accelerating climate change. During the CES panel, participants highlighted how farmers are leveraging autonomous equipment, precision agriculture tools, and AI-enabled decision-making platforms to better manage their operations.

Jacqueline Heard, CEO of Enko, likened the transformative impact of AI and data-driven tools to that of the tractor, which revolutionized agriculture over the past two centuries.

“If you think about any industrial revolution, that’s what it was—a tractor and autonomy causing this incredible acceleration and making what farmers do easier,” said Heard. “The same goes for AI. Data is the new tractor. I think AI will accelerate just about everything we do, from creating better inputs to solving the massive optimization challenges farmers face on-farm and driving profitability.”

You can watch the entire session below.

AI or Die? Why Farms Must Embrace the AI Revolution to Survive


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Tagged:
  • ag tech
  • agtech
  • Agtonomy
  • Automation
  • CES
  • CES 2025
  • Farmers

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