Size Matters 📊 Precision technology now covers 81% of Danish farmland, from RTK-GPS to section control (66%) and nitrogen management software (44%). But it’s not evenly spread: the average farm using these tools cultivates 180 hectares, nearly double the national average. Those using self-driving or robotic machinery manage about 365 hectares.
The figures in this article are based on fresh statistics from Statistics Denmark. The source highlights how the use of precision technology varies by age and farm size, and how digital tools are reshaping Danish agriculture.
Eyes in the Sky 📡 36% of farmland is now monitored from above — 31% via satellites, 3% via drones, and 10% of farms use aerial imagery directly. What began as an experiment has become a standard decision-making tool, helping farmers monitor crop health, fine-tune fertiliser use, and even plan drainage.
In Denmark in 2025, six out of ten farmers under 40 use precision technology — compared with less than half of all farmers. Younger farmers are leading the digital shift in agriculture, while adoption falls with age. Among those over 60, only about four in ten use these tools. The difference reflects both digital familiarity and mindset — younger farmers are quicker to integrate GPS, data, and drones into their daily routines, pushing Danish farming into a smarter future.
Organic farms lag behind 🌱 — only 32% use precision technology compared with 44% overall. But the main divide isn’t organic versus conventional. It’s small versus large: precision tools are built for big fields and big machines, and we should expect precision tech to accelerate structural change in agriculture.
In Denmark, 75% of farmland already sits on farms larger than 100 hectares. As we explored in our earlier post, “Size Matters – Also in Farming”, Sweden follows closely with 63% of arable land on farms over 100 ha. In contrast, only 14% of farmland in Norway (on just 2% of the farms) exceeds that threshold, which will seriously limit the adoption of precision tech in Norway.
💡 Longer story short: As technologies become more advanced — and more expensive — they reward scale: farms with the capital, acreage, and workforce to use them efficiently. This dynamic drives the consolidation of farmland, favouring regions and countries where expansion is still feasible.
💬 Next Up at Nordic Insights
We’re mapping precision tech adoption across the Nordics to see how farm size, age, and access interact — and whether the generational shift will be enough to bridge the digital gap.
If you have data or examples from your region, we’d love to hear from you.
— Torfi & Ulla, Nordic Insights
0 Comments