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Industry insights | May 14, 2026
Agriculture is facing a labor crisis.
And it isn't going away anytime soon.
Contributing factors include an aging workforce, declining interest in farm life among younger generations, over-reliance on migrant or temporary workers, and harsh working conditions.
All of these factors are a drain on productivity resulting in lost economic potential and additional stress for agribusinesses and family farms in a highly competitive, low-margin industry.
The problems are longstanding but may be more urgent than ever, as the industry looks for solutions to chronic labor shortages while being asked to produce more food than ever for a growing global population.
But there is hope.
The future of farming lies in automation
By embracing technological solutions that boost food production and increase efficiency, producers and large integrators can solve chronic labour shortages that threaten the future viability of the entire industry.
Robotic systems are being deployed successfully for a whole range of tasks, from seeding and weeding crops to feeding livestock. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies are replacing manual paper-based processes to transform logistics and supply chain efficiency.
The trend will only accelerate over the next 25 years.
Reducing reliance on manual tasks
BinSentry’s AI-powered technology, for example, is helping feed mills and large swine and poultry integrators mitigate the impact of the worker shortage by reducing their reliance on manual labour. This improves operational efficiency and frees up manpower to focus more on higher-value tasks that require human skill and judgment.
Here’s how:
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Automating routine tasks: BinSentry technology monitors feed inventories with 99% precision, replacing time-consuming and error-prone visual inspections, manual data entry for record keeping, ordering and tracking feed deliveries.
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Eliminating manual inventory checks: climbing bins to check inventories is not only dangerous, it generates bad data because “guesstimates” are inherently subjective. BinSentry provides accurate, real-time inventory data with a user-friendly dashboard that takes minutes to learn and is accessible anywhere on any device.
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Reducing workplace injuries due to falls: falls from height are among the top 10 causes of farm fatalities. But even a minor injury can lead to lost time and lost productivity. The average cost of a fall-related workplace injury is $50,000. Eliminating the need to climb bins for manual inventory checks improves safety and leads to substantial cost savings. For example, over one year of monitoring 2,000 bins, BinSentry helped customers avoid 46,000 bin climbs and save approximately 2,300 hours in labour spent manually monitoring feed bins.
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Resilience during emergencies: BinSentry’s rugged automated systems keep on working during severe weather events or other emergency situations, ensuring critical tasks are completed regardless of workforce fluctuations.
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Improving decision making with reliable data: Proprietary algorithms analyze feed consumption in real time, detect patterns and adjust forecasts to predict future needs, ensure accurate ordering, reduce feed waste and cut costs.
Less guesswork means more efficient operations
For one poultry farm involved in a BinSentry pilot, feed reclaim was reduced by 90 per cent. The savings frees up drivers for other tasks and means less time double-handling or triple-handling feed, which can impact feed quality.
“With BinSentry we're certain that every truck is able to leave here full and that truck will be able to fit at the site,” says Daniel Cisco, production manager at Wayne Sanderson Farms, which is now deploying our ProSense Feed sensors across all of its operations.
“Too often before, with the grower guessing, he might either not want to order a full truck or he would over-order feed. Then you're forced to find another spot to take that extra feed. So if that was happening two to three times a week, there's hundreds of miles and hours that are saved on a weekly basis.”