A new wave of agritech tools — from maple monitors to virtual fences — is revolutionizing how small farms manage labor, costs, and climate challenges.

By Kate Kampner, for the Community News Service

For eleven years, Brian Kussel woke up at 2 a.m to tend to the facilities that keep maple syrup flowing on his farm around-the-clock.

But since January, that’s all changed for the Rutland producer. 

That’s thanks to Farmblox, an app-based automation system that detects farm equipment issues and productivity. Now, all Kussel has to do is check his phone to ensure his operation is running smoothly.

Although he still has to wake up early, he can now tend to his production from the comfort of his bed. 

Peace of mind

Farmblox is one of a growing number of agrotechnology, or “agritech,” companies that promise to streamline farmwork and boost efficiency.

These innovations vary from farm to farm. Some operations use sensors to manage water use, while other farms survey crop coverage with drones. 

In 2024, the global Agritech market was valued at about $24 billion, and is projected to reach $49 billion by 2030, according to ResearchandMarkets.com.

Now, farmers in Vermont are taking advantage of these innovations to ease labor shortages and resist the impacts of climate change.

Kussel said installing Farmblox has greatly improved his quality of life — from more sleep to higher production. He installed the system in January after receiving a development grant from Vermont’s Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets.

Since then, the system sends him alerts if syrup lines leak, animals damage machinery or sap lines freeze.

In the past, his five-person crew spent four days a week surveying his maple tapping system for damages. Now, he said, the crew only has to manually check the tubing for about three days of the entire season. 

“It’s labor savings,” said Kussel. “It’s the peace of mind.” 

Tools for farmers

Farmblox started off as an indoor-growing company, but found the cost of production too high.

That changed when the company’s founders visited a maple farm in Vermont supported by a different monitor syste, said Will Brigham, a senior sales engineer for the company, 

Following that trip, they realized they had the technology to make their own, improved solution.

Brigham himself is a maple producer in Vermont and uses the technology for his operations. 

The system works via wireless devices scattered throughout a farm. They gather data, such as fertilizer tank levels, equipment temperature, and soil moisture levels. The collected information gets sent back to a main monitor for the farm to access. 

Farmers also can attach the monitoring devices to farm equipment such as tanks, vacuums, and pressure sensors and receive notifications when there’s a problem.

Farmblox is now used on 70 farms in ten states. The company’s goal is to make their technology usable for any crop. A sensor for sap level can also be used to monitor water tanks in orchards, for example.

Farmblox can also monitor carbon sequestration levels — the storing of carbon dioxide in soil — indicating soil health and showing amounts of carbon saved on a farm. 

“We aren’t here to tell farmers how to do things,” Brigham said. “We’re here to give them a platform and tools to allow them to build the system that they want, that is useful to them.” 

Getting the word out

This influx in technology can be overwhelming for the predominantly older workforce in farming, Brigham said. 

One Vermont group is trying to help with the introduction.

The Agritech Institute for Small Farms, a Montpelier non-profit, provides financial, technical, and monitoring support for farmers who implement the technology. 

Agritech tools can enable small farms to be a part of long-term climate solutions, said institute co-founder, Dan Smith.

“The idea is to promote agritech tools to assist their financial and operation sustainability,” he said.

Smith understands firsthand how challenging operating a small-scale farm can be. He has owned and managed a beef farm in East Montpelier for the past 20 years. 

“You don’t have hired labor, so you’re dependent on yourself,” he said, “So, you look for agritech tools that will make your job easier.” 

The organization has partnered with eight Vermont farms to test a virtual fencing system called Nofence, and has plans to do additional trials over the next two years. 

Nofence was founded in Norway by goat farmer, Oscar Hovde, who struggled to fence in his herd in the country’s mountainous topography.

Hovde created a virtual fence using a combination of a high-pitched ringing audio as well as electric pulses to contain his herd. He put collars on his goats and trained them to associate the sounds and pulses with the fence. 

The company went fully commercial in the U.S. in early 2025 and is now used by over 400 farmers, including 15 in Vermont. 

No more walking the fence line

Matt Vermeersch, a salesperson for the company, said the technology has been beneficial for managing his own herd of cattle. 

Prior to using Nofence, Vermeersch relied on an electric fence, which required hours of management.

With a full-time job and a family to care for, he didn’t have time to worry about the fence line. Now, he doesn’t have to. 

Nofence offers an easier way to start rotational grazing — moving livestock between pastures to regrow grazed areas, which builds climate resilience.

Vermeersch found the fencing allowed him to quickly adapt to weather change and kept his cattle comfortable. 

“In the past I wasn’t really able to adapt to different things rapidly,” he said. “You’re spending all this time doing a low-value activity.”

Now with technology like NoFence and Farmblox, farmers say they can focus on higher priorities.

Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship