From sensors to milking robots: The QuantiFarm project measures the value of digital agriculture across Europe

Milan, October 22nd, 2026 – QuantiFarm, a European project funded under Horizon Europe and dedicated to assessing the impact of digital technologies in agriculture in real-world conditions, has concluded. As part of a partnership comprising 32 European organisations, Politecnico di Milano, together with the Smart AgriFood Observatory and the Food Sustainability Lab, analysed the value generated by digital solutions for the agricultural sector, identifying significant economic and environmental benefits in most of the cases studied.

Over the course of the project, evidence was collected through 30 case studies in 20 European countries, spanning different biogeographical and production contexts and involving more than 100 farms. The analyses covered different solutions and areas of application, including Decision Support Systems (DSS), agrometeorological stations, sensors, monitoring and data collection tools, irrigation management solutions, farm management platforms, precision fertilisation technologies, milking and feeding robots, and automated systems for monitoring barns and animals. The cases examined covered diverse sectors and activities, from open-field crops to specialised crops, from farming operations (dairy cows, pigs, oysters) to farm performance management, enabling analysis of the impact of digital technologies in real-world operating conditions.

The analyses carried out within QuantiFarm found a positive return on investment in digital solutions for agriculture (DATS, Digital Agriculture Technology Solutions) and net benefits for most participating farms, in terms of more efficient use of production inputs, reduced costs, and improvements in yields, productivity and quality of work.

Taking the average over the three years of experimentation, the cost-benefit analysis showed a net monetary benefit in 23 out of 30 cases. In four cases, the results were more mixed: the same digital solution generated a net benefit for one crop and a loss for another within the same farm, highlighting the influence of agronomic conditions and specific management practices on economic outcomes. In three cases, a net loss was recorded, mostly attributable to contingent factors – such as unfavourable weather conditions, specific agronomic characteristics or operational constraints at farm level – that limited the ability to fully exploit the potential of digital solutions. The three-year perspective also made it possible to overcome, at least in part, the variability of results observable in a single year, which can be strongly influenced by factors external to the technology.

“QuantiFarm was launched to address an issue that is now crucial to the future of the sector: promoting technological innovation is not enough. It is also necessary to understand which tools really work, in which contexts, and with what economic, environmental and social effects,” explained Raffaella Cagliano, Head of the Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering and Scientific Director of the Food Sustainability Lab at Politecnico di Milano. “The adoption of digital technologies in agriculture requires measurement tools capable of integrating the different dimensions of sustainability, considering economic, environmental and social impacts together.”

The medium- to long-term financial analysis also presented an overall positive picture: in most cases, economic returns tend to consolidate and increase as the time horizon lengthens, while for several solutions – in particular DSS, Farm Management Information Systems and sensors used in the field – the investment is recouped within one or two production cycles. The value of digital technologies must therefore also be assessed from a medium- to long-term perspective, considering that benefits can increase progressively as the use of the technology is optimised, agronomic and management decisions improve, and savings on inputs accumulate.

Alongside the economic dimension, the analyses also showed positive environmental and social effects. DATSs have, for example, promoted more efficient use of inputs such as fertilisers, plant protection products, feed, antibiotics and veterinary medicines, as well as more precise irrigation and fertilisation management and better monitoring of crop and animal conditions. In more than two-thirds of the comparisons, an increase in productivity associated with the adoption of the technology was also observed. On the social side, remote monitoring, the simplification of administrative tasks and the automation of certain operations also contributed to greater flexibility in organising work and managing farmers’ time.

“With QuantiFarm, Politecnico di Milano has helped make the value of digital technologies in agriculture more transparent and measurable. We have provided businesses, advisers and decision-makers with rigorous tools to assess not only the economic benefits but also the environmental and social impacts of the solutions adopted, so as to support more informed and effective innovation choices,” said Filippo Maria Renga, coordinator of European and international activities of the Digital Innovation Observatories at Politecnico di Milano.

Alongside universities and research centres, the project also involved partners of importance to the European agricultural sector, including Confagricoltura, Copa-Cogeca, CEMA, Teagasc, Delphy and IDELE, as well as numerous organisations involved in consultancy, technology transfer and the development of digital agriculture solutions. This multi-actor approach was one of the project’s most valuable elements, because it made it possible to bring research, farms, advisers, industry and institutional stakeholders into dialogue.

With the conclusion of QuantiFarm, the body of tools, methods and knowledge developed through the project will continue to be put to use in new research and innovation initiatives already funded under Horizon, including GreenFit, Farmory, Agritechvalley and CeAmplify, as well as in the activities of the Smart AgriFood Observatory, the Food Sustainability Lab and the Dairy Innovation Observatory.