Smart farming is reshaping UK agriculture. With growing pressure to feed a rising population while using fewer resources, farmers are turning to technology to make their operations smarter, more sustainable, and more efficient. One of the tools supporting this shift is the digital display.
From tractors to storage facilities, touch displays provide a simple, reliable way to view and interact with the data that keeps modern farming moving. As farming equipment and systems evolve, farmers need intuitive, easy-to-use interfaces. Digital displays provide this essential connection, converting streams of raw sensor and machinery data into clear, actionable insights that help farmers make informed decisions in real time; a key part of today’s precision farming approach.
Why Agriculture Needs Smarter Technology
Rising energy costs, climate uncertainty, and water scarcity are forcing UK farmers to adopt precision farming and embrace smart farming technologies. According to the UK Government’s Farming Innovation Programme – UKRI and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), digital tools are essential to increasing productivity and sustainability in farming.
Digital displays don’t capture data themselves, but they serve as the interface between sensors, machinery and the farmer, transforming raw inputs into clear, actionable information.
Where PanelPilot Fits In
PanelPilot devices are best thought of as rugged, flexible displays. On their own, they are a blank canvas. Once connected to external inputs, they provide a customisable interface that makes critical information easy to interpret and act on.
- Compatible with analogue, digital and serial inputs (depending on the model).
- Expandable through optional add-on boards, such as temperature monitoring.
- Fully programmable interfaces, tailored to each user’s application.
This flexibility makes PanelPilot a practical choice in agriculture, where durability, clarity and adaptability are key to success. Learn more about the PanelPilot ranges.
Smart Farming in Action
Specialist Instruments Ltd. integrated a PanelPilotACE SGD 43-A display into a muck-spreading tractor to support biogas smart farming. The system measures and displays slurry application rates in real time, ensuring fertiliser is spread evenly and subcontractors can be accurately paid. This is a perfect example of how digital displays help farmers make informed decisions.
What once required weeks of coding was achieved in just half a day using the drag-and-drop PanelPilotACE Design Studio software, proving how quickly a professional, precision interface can be developed and deployed in the field.
Want to hear more? Read the full case study here.
Looking Ahead: Farming for the Future
The UK is investing heavily in Agri-Tech innovation, with support from DEFRA and EU sustainability initiatives. As this sector evolves, smart farming technologies such as digital displays will continue to grow in importance, not as standalone monitoring devices, but as the connection between advanced agricultural systems and the people who use them.
For farmers, this means better access to the information that drives decision-making. For consumers, it means a more secure and sustainable food supply. And for innovators across the industry, it’s an opportunity to create the technology that makes it all possible.