Farming will be a much different occupation 25 years from now.Ottawa—While the farm of the future will look considerably different than today's typical operation, there will be one constant over the years, says Howard Mains, the head of Tactix Consulting.Consumers will demand to know more and more about their food and farmers will have to respond to all the social media trash talk about agriculture, he told the Canadian Federation of Agriculture annual general meeting.“The fish bowl environment that farmers operate in underscores the need to tell our story,” he said. “If you can't be on the front lines of telling the story – support those who do.“Consumers will continue to drive for a higher level of accountability for all aspects of modern farming practices,” said Mains, a Kemptville Agriculture College graduate. “And these highly educated consumers, distant from the farm, will be easily influenced by media forces on the perceived evils of some agricultural practices.”Against the backdrop of continued questioning of food production practices, consumers will increasingly demand transparency and sustainability in the food supply chain, he said.That's why food companies “are investing in blockchain technology as a long-term solution to supply chain visibility and traceability. “This means that a retailer would know their bread suppliers' suppliers' supplier. That's you – the primary producer.“Blockchain technology allows specific products to be traced to the source,” he said. “Contaminated products can be easily and quickly traced, while safe foods would remain on the shelves and not be sent to landfills.“Looking ahead for the next 10 years, it is a safe bet to expect blockchain technology will be widely adopted by the food supply chain,” he said. “The large global consumer food companies are implementing the technology today and they will bring the supply chain that includes the primary producer along with them.”Among the organizations that Tactix represents is the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, which commissioned research into the future of agriculture in the United States and Canada. It pointed to the growing importance of blockchain over the next 10 and 25 years.It also found that for every six farmers over 65, there is only one farmer under 35, he said. Still no major shifts in farm structure are expected during the next decade.Large farms will continue to get larger, primarily through rental arrangements, he said. “Operators will get older on average, but there will not likely be a mass exodus due to retirement. Most land transfers will remain in the family and the amount of land owned by absentee or retired land owners will increase. Corporate land ownership will continue to grow, but remain minor compared to family ownership.”The change comes further down the road as the baby boomers pass and no longer owns any rented land, he said. “Who will be the buyers of that farmland – and what are the policy implications?”Another change is the growing influx of venture capital into the agrifood sector mainly from start-up companies specializing in satellite image analysis, in-field monitoring, soil and crop health analysis, autonomous vehicles and robotics and predictive analytics.With those developments, “farm operators will look for a single enterprise platform to collect, organize and manage their operation,” he said. “Crop science companies may attempt to own the platform, but are encumbered by the disruption of their core businesses – plant genetics.”The tough choice for farmers will be with whom they will share their data, he said. “Who will own this platform and the relationship is yet to be determined. However, we can expect new entrants with no value chain equity to enter agriculture with a new platform or new solutions.”The next decade will bring changes to the kinds of service supplied to farms, he said. “Ag equipment suppliers will be challenged to recruit and retain the type of talent required to maintain autonomous power units, drones and Precision Ag technology. Given the specialized knowledge required, more maintenance will be conducted by dealers and less by operators.”“At the local shop level, the ability to print parts at dealer locations becomes practical as the technology matures and parts made from alternative materials become more common,” he said. “We will see new equipment rental arrangements emerge. Horsepower by the hour will become more common, and some form equipment sharing service may emerge.”Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.