Who do German farmers trust when making decisions about digital technologies? An analysis of the trustworthiness of innovation actors

Increasing scholarly attention is being paid to understanding the roles of different actors involved in digital agriculture. This study contributes to this field of research by exploring farmers’ level of trust in digital agricultural actors. Based on a survey of 203 arable farmers from southern Germany, it investigates how adopters and non-adopters of digital technologies perceive the trustworthiness of different actors. The results suggest that farmers have varying levels of trust in innovation actors providing advice and information. Farmers express relatively more trust in other farmers, the agricultural press, and associations and less trust in research institutions, agricultural authorities, private advisory services, agricultural technology, and downstream actors. Significant differences between adopters and non-adopters are observed across the three types of digital technologies examined in the study (disembodied digital, embodied-knowledge and information-intensive technologies). The study highlights the importance of rethinking the roles and practices of innovation actors in the context of digital agriculture. Greater attention to trust can help to better align information and innovation processes between farmers and other innovation actors in the digital agriculture innovation system, enabling farmers to make informed decisions about adopting digital technologies. The results of this study may be of particular interest to those interested in developing strategies to strengthen linkages in the digital agriculture innovation system and to realise the objectives of current policy agendas in Europe.