Chicago, USA – Artificial intelligence use is surging on farms as growers look for high-tech help in planning and managing operations after years of scaling back on spending, according to McKinsey & Co. Some 17% of the world’s farmers now use generative AI in farm-related tasks, making it one of the fastest-growing technologies in agriculture, McKinsey said in its Global Farmer Insights 2026 report. The AI adoption follows a multiyear farm slump that crimped spending amid rising costs for agricultural inputs, with costs for labor, land, equipment, financing, and fertilizer remaining elevated and volatile since farmer profitability last peaked in 2021–2022, according to David Fiocco, senior partner at McKinsey.
“These forces—combined with local policy uncertainty, increasingly unpredictable weather, and labor shortages—are making farm-level decisions harder and riskier,” Fiocco said in the report. Farmers, especially in the Americas, are quickly adopting AI to assist in day-to-day decisions. “It has dramatically changed the way growers are able to rapidly get agronomic advice,” Fiocco said. The numbers reveal an important distinction between experimenting with AI and paying for it. Globally, 17% of surveyed farmers use generative AI for agricultural tasks, but only 4% pay for AI tools, while 12% use free versions. North America stands out with 23% reporting Gen AI use, including 10% who pay for tools and 13% who use free options. Latin America has the highest overall adoption at 26%, followed by North America, Europe at 13%, and Asia at 7%.
Yet rapid AI adoption does not mean farmers are ready to replace human expertise. Only 6% cite Gen AI chatbots as an advice source, compared with 56% who turn to technical agronomists and 56% who rely on sales representatives. The influence of sales representatives has nevertheless fallen sharply, from 67% in 2024 to 56% in 2026, while technical agronomists increased slightly from 54% to 56%.
The contrast points toward a hybrid model for agricultural decision-making: digital tools increasingly help producers discover and compare information, while trusted technical experts remain central when growers need to validate decisions before putting money at risk. According to Purdue’s Center for Commercial Agriculture, more than 30% of respondents in the latest Ag Economy Barometer named strategic planning as the biggest benefit of AI, with finance and strategy seen as areas that could be improved upon.
