Growers Want Agtech to Work

One of the big myths about farmers is that they’re slow to adopt technology. 

In fact, the prevailing perception often seems to be that farmers are somehow against technology altogether. That the relationship is almost adversarial, combative rather than collaborative. 

Nothing could be further from the truth.

I was talking to Gilbert Plath from Washington Fruit recently about how we’ve been pleasantly surprised by how forgiving and supportive the farming community has been when it comes to product imperfections. 

At Lumo, we’ve found that growers are incredibly patient and understanding. They don’t expect perfection - just that you show up, fix what’s broken, and continue to iterate to get things right. 

What he said next stopped me in my tracks. 

“That shouldn’t come as a surprise. We want this thing to work.” 

He’s exactly right.

The growers we work with at Lumo want this technology to work. They know they need better tools to help manage their water resources efficiently, to mitigate labor costs and scarcity challenges, and to drive profitability and sustainability over the long run. They know their business depends on technological improvement.

And they’re extremely collaborative as a result. They care deeply about making the technology better. Making sure it’s grounded in the realities of farm life. That it solves real problems, adds real value, and is as easy to use as possible. 

It’s funny the way your perception and the words you use evolve over time as you gain more confidence and a deeper understanding, and as folks put a finer point on things for you. 

My perception has evolved since I started working at Lumo, but somehow I was still mistakenly thinking that the kindness and support we had received from the farming community was solely a function of good will and generosity. 

And that is definitely part of it. The farming community is generous and full of good will.

But they also understand that the future of farming depends on agtech working. 

They want agtech to work. They need it to work.

And they understand they have a role to play - in trying tools maybe a little before they’re ready so that companies can gain field experience and get good feedback and keep building better, more reliable, easier to use products. 

That’s exactly how Lumo has got to where it is today. Because of the folks who were willing to bet on us early and go through all the ups and downs as we encountered unknowns and ran our first irrigations and figured out which details mattered most. 

From 2023 to 2025 Lumo grew from about a dozen farms to over a 180. We went from irrigating 10 million gallons to over 650 million this past season.

That kind of growth happens for a lot of different reasons.

An incredibly talented and hardworking team. A top down strategic vision of what ag needed to irrigate better, and a bottoms up culture of rolling up our sleeves and pulling together in the same direction. 

But the real driving force behind all of it? 

The desire of growers.

They want this thing to work. 

The growers we’re lucky enough to work with at Lumo continue to drag us toward their vision of what a precision irrigation platform should be and continue to push us to reach our full potential by setting high expectations. 

We are grateful to have such committed collaborators. 

The next time I see a grower providing good feedback or going out of their way to be helpful, I’ll be sure to still say thanks, but I’ll try not to act surprised.

If you're a grower who wants agtech to work and are interested in irrigating to plan across every block, you can request a demo, shoot us an email at [email protected], or connect with Steele on LinkedIn.