How smart are we?

Luckily, with most of these worries we have smart technology to help us. We have come to rely much more on technology to improve farm productivity. We have driverless tractors, robots for planting, seeding, weeding, harvesting, and drones to monitor crop health and soil conditions. In the area of livestock stock management, we will come to rely even more on automation with milking, feeding and animal welfare to improve output and profitability. The same applies to all sectors of farming.

Do we have a Plan B?

Those who know me will know I am the eternal optimist, and I have always encouraged agricultural contractors and farmers to engage with smart technology. But as I look at the world stage today, I wonder, are we as smart as we think we are? Do we have a plan B if smart technology should fail us, either because of power outages or if satellites go down wiping out the operation of GPS and all the robots and smart technology we have come to rely on. How easily could we switch back from automation to manual operations? With cyber and terrorist attacks becoming more frequent, are farming communities in Ireland and beyond vulnerable?
To me there are two areas that threaten technology. I would like to believe the recent power outages in Spain were weather related, but the jury is still out. If the reasons given are true and we look at Spain’s reliance on wind power, which provides 25 per cent of its power capacity, then we in Ireland have even more to worry about. In March 2025, Eirgrid reported that wind power provides almost half of Ireland’s electricity needs and that’s great. But what if we experience the same problems as Spain? Do we have a plan B?
Recently, in the UK, Heathrow airport was shut down due to a large fire at an electricity substation? Reports since have shown a pattern of fires in seven electricity substations across the UK. Over the last few years, Ireland has also suffered substation fires and criminal, or not, it raises the question of how easy it might be for someone with criminal intent to wreak havoc and do immense damage. Is there a plan B to prevent or deal with such a scenario?

Now, you might think I am scaremongering or speculating about something that might never happen but let me add another issue for consideration. Many of the components used in our modern tractors and technology are manufactured using rare-earth elements (REE). Availability of these elements will become as precious as oil and like oil, it will be all about the cost of extraction and production. Many countries may have oil deposits or REE, but it is not economically viable to extract them.
China produces close to 70 per cent of the world’s REE, but it also processes about 90 per cent of it. REE is used in US military equipment, as well as by tech industries. The Trump administration recently learned a lesson when it applied penal tariffs on China. China immediately put restrictions on the export of REE to the US. The result was an immediate climb down by the US on Chinese imports tariffs.
REE are needed in virtually everything you can think of: phones, computers, cars, satellites and all modern farm machinery. Will China restrict or control the export of REE? If so, how long before it affects the production of high-tech farm machinery and equipment?
Cyber-attacks are not just carried out by criminal elements seeking to extract money, they are also being used by errant governments to damage the infrastructure of rival nations.
As a country, we must have a plan ‘B’ to deal with any of the above scenarios I have commented on. In the meantime, contractors, hang on to your old tractor and plough; they might be needed for Plan C!