Precision agriculture and the future of farming in Europe : scientific foresight study

This study resulted in the identification of four main future opportunities and concerns regarding precision agriculture (PA), or precision farming, in the EU, on which the European Parliament could take anticipatory action now: 1. PA can actively contribute to food security and safety; 2. PA supports sustainable farming; 3. PA will trigger societal changes along with its uptake; 4. PA requires new skills to be learned. The wide diversity of agriculture throughout the EU, regarding particularly farm size, types of farming, farming practices, output and employment, presents a challenge for European policy-makers. European policy measures therefore should differentiate between Member States, taking into account that the opportunities and concerns vary highly from one country to another.