Farm Tech

Almost every small scale vegetable farmer I’ve visited is using some variation of a CoolBot: a device that allows farmers to affordably build their own walk in refrigerator powered by a window air conditioning unit. Where did the CoolBot come from? It was designed by small-scale farmers in conjunction with Cornell University.

One farmer told me last week, that “as a farmer, you are all the things, you are a soil scientist and veterinarian half the time…you act all these roles, but you can also be an inventor.” She was referencing how so much of the technology on her farm was derived from farmer-to-farmer innovations: from Elliott Coleman’s high tunnel designs to farmer designed software that aids farm management.

The internet diffuses ideas and innovations quickly,, and many the farmers I’ve spoken to are constantly experimenting with new techniques, often after seeing them promoted by one of the Internets farming superstars, such as JM Fortier.

The most universal form of technology, though, that farmers have mentioned so far: social media. Facebook and Instagram with their photo dominant formats have allowed farmers to share their stories with their customers and open a window into the world of farming. For a dairy farmer I spoke with, this is a useful tool for clarifying misconceptions people have about her cows and the conditions that make them happy and healthy. For a vegetable farmer, social media allowed her to share beautiful pictures of the produce and the landscape with customers and fellow farmers. Today, the internet means that farm based innovations don’t stay on a single farm, but spread quickly from farmer-to-farmer.