Most of the farmers I know live almost analogue lives. They just about have a mobile phone. Based on the amount of tech support I do for them, they're not massively IT savvy. I'm sure there are farmers out there who rely on tech and tools — precision agriculture, GPS-guided tractors, drone surveys. But not the ones I know.
I try to use tech as effectively as I can. I use Voicenotes, often when I'm standing in the middle of a field, to record a mini podcast, or retain a memory. Capturing it right there, in the moment — while the hens are having their breakfast, or while I'm waiting for the sheep to settle.
There's something about that contrast that I love.
Recording where you are
The image that stuck with me recently: clipping an Apple Watch — or something like the H2O Sonar Clip — to your coat, and walking out to the animals. Recording ambient sound, or a voice note, or just letting the mic pick up the dusk chorus while you lock up the chicken coop.
It's not a studio setup. It's not even particularly hi-fi. But it captures something real — the sound of a place, a moment, a thought that would otherwise evaporate before you got back inside.
I've recorded notes standing in fields I call Daffodil Field, in orchards, in sheep sheds. The transcript might say something like "I'm just in the middle of a field and there are literally thousands of daffodils" — and that's exactly right. That's the point.
Why it matters
The farmers I know don't write things down much either. Knowledge lives in their heads, or passes between people in conversations over gates. There's a lot that never gets captured.
I don't think everyone needs to turn their farm into a content operation. But the idea of reaching into your pocket — or unclipping a device from your coat — and just saying what you're thinking, what you're seeing, what you want to remember: that feels like something anyone could do, regardless of how analogue the rest of their life is.
Tech meets rural life doesn't have to mean dashboards and data. Sometimes it just means talking to your watch while the hens sort themselves out.
Related: Why I Love Voicenotes · Zippy Doo Dah · Lincoln Reds · Hyperattention · The Lost Sheep