Danish AgroTech
Denmark is among the most digitised agricultural and food sectors in the world. When it comes to creating intelligent solutions for production and inventing new intelligent ways to help farmers manage their crops with solutions such as drones, robotics, and AI, Denmark is an absolute frontrunner. Farming has been a part of Danish life for centuries and even though it is an old and traditional industry, the Danish farmers are continuously adapting technical solutions for their work and sharing their data with each other.
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A strong AgroTech ecosystem
Denmark has a long history of producing high quality agricultural products. In the mid 1800-century, Danish farmers organised themselves in a cooperative movement to strengthen their competitive edge in international markets. This has resulted in a strong tradition of coming together in collaboration and implementing new ways of working. The Danish farmers are ready to use technology and to share their knowledge and data with each other - more ready than most places around the world.
Today, we have more shared data from individual farms than any other country in the world. By using a strong shared database and combining it with technology, the Danish AgroTech scene has seen incredible growth in the last years. With progressive AgroTech solutions gradually taking over the Danish agricultural scene, it allows farmers to work smarter, more precise, and sustainably.
Denmark is a role model for high production yields and resource efficiency and a major exporter of technology that supports the green transition of the global food value chain.
Food Nation is a public-private partnership established by the Danish government and leading private organisations and companies. Food Nation creates awareness of Denmark as a frontrunner within innovative, sustainable and effective agriculture- and food production. Food Nation works as a gateway for international stakeholders seeking information about Danish food products and solutions. Find out more about Food Nations services and arrange a visit to one of the Visitor Centres here.
The industry-specific organisation Agro Food Park, has a total of 80 companies and 1.200 employees connected to their organisation, working to create close collaborations and partnerships to foster innovation for agricultural and food businesses. Agro Food Park was founded with a mission to connect competencies in the agricultural and food industry and to help ensure the development of sustainable products for future generations.
Danish AgroTech in numbers
87
AgroTech startups
€ 263 million
invested in AgroTech startups, 2021
1 354
employees in AgroTech startups
1700s
Co-op movement
Danish farmers founded the cooperative movement that strengthened their competitive ability in international markets.
1956
The Cattle Database
The Danish dairy industry creates the Punched Cards Central. Shortly after, the Meat Packing Industry follows suit. The punched cards are used for, among other things, registering milk performance from cows. This is the start of the Cattle Database, which is gathering all data from Danish cattle into one overall database and is unique to Denmark.
1961
Electronic Data Processing in agriculture
Landbrugets EDB-Central (The Agricultural EDP-Central) sees the day of light. In collaboration with Det Faglige Landscenter (The Professional Nation Centre), today SEGES, the Agricultural EDP-Central is in the centre of the agricultural's use of EDP (Electronic Data Processing) and the development of software for businesses, agricultural advisors, and farmers.
1982
The start of precision farming
EDP programmes are introduced to the indivual farm's fertilizer plans. With the purpose to enable the farmers to work with precision farming and optimise the use of excipients - benefitting the environment.
1980s
Collecting data
Tractors and agricultural equipment are supplied with computers, collecting data while working.
1987
Planning ahead
The sale of computers increase rapidly for the indiviudal farmer, making it possible for the farmers to plan next years' crops by using programmes such as Næsgaard Mark.
1993
Livestock register
The Danish government introduces Det Centrale Husdyrsregister (The Central Pet Register) - a database for registering livestock. The register is unique compared to the rest of the world due to its width and its integration into other databases and IT systems in the agriculture.
1998
The milking robot
The milking robot is introduced on Danish farms. It milks the cow with help from sensors and gathers data, benefitting the farmer. The milking robot can detect illnesses before it is even visible to the human eye.
2000's
A tech driven agriculture
Continuous development of a long range of software and IT solutions that make life as a farmer easier. From automated bookkeeping to the calculation of the individual fields' need to be watered. All the solutions are located in the cloud and are connected to apps, which makes it accessible for the farmers to work with them anywhere.
Agricultural machine manufacturers increasingly launch products that are collecting and utilising data to execute the work even more precisely. It can be technology that secures precise driving of a tractor, software for varied distribution of nitrogen, or photos from satellites or drones that are used in combination with GPS data to create more precise maps for the distribution of fertilizer, pesticides, or seeds. Precision technologies are used for sowing, intertillage, liming, yield measurement, sampling, and manure distribution.
2020
Optimal use of the soil
35% of all Danish farms are using precision farming. Utilising the data and digital solutions that are out there to optimise the cultivation of the soil.
An ecosystem of many strengths
The Danish AgroTech scene is at the very forefront of innovation. A key ingredient in the Danish tech success originates from our collaborative work approach. Close cross-sectoral collaborations have fostered efficient and speedy processes, from idea generation all the way to product launch. Close-knit communities and partnerships, combined with trust and willingness to share data have given the Danish AgroTech scene an impressive position globally.
Go check out the future of cropping and digital farming here.
