Temporalities, (Dis)Entanglements, and Technology Innovation in the Transformation of the Farmer's Identity

Dairy farming in the Netherlands is not only an important sector of the economy, but also an identity linked to national pride. However, the recent environmental policies have been creating a sense of instability and insecurity among this group, which reacted with heavily disruptive protests. In the effort to respond to the changing demands, many farmers have been adopting technologies that change how their work is done, the relationships constructed between different subjects on the farm, transforming the assemblage that constitutes their identity, and ultimately inaugurating new temporalities of food production.

In this article, identity is discussed as a changing constellation in the context of technological change. I argue that this identity constellation is an assemblage of human and non-human entanglements, that dictate different kinds of temporalities in the farm. The group of dairy farmers in the Netherlands who were interviewed in 2023 showed great openness and willingness to adopt new technologies to assist their work. However, the degree of openness varied according to how this technology challenged their previous identity assemblage structure.

This process had, as a result, a changing perception about what it means to be a farmer and what they would be willing to change. The development of a specific technology, Precision Fermentation, that aims to sustainably produce a product similar to milk without the need for the cows or their expertise as farmers, also puts their perceptions in question. The development and introduction of novel technologies inaugurate new possibilities for sustainable dairy production and present new challenges to the actors in the conventional industry. I ask how much can the assemblage of dairy farmer identity change while still being considered dairy farmer? These assemblages will not only impact their own identities, but inaugurate new temporalities of food production.