The digital revolution occurring across global food systems has become undeniable. From robotic tractors and spraying drones to fully integrated data-driven strategies to manage food value chains, a host of new digital technologies are now being sold as the solution to tackle a growing population, climate change and the depletion of our natural resources. Indeed, under catchy titles like “smart farming” or “agriculture 4.0” (amongst many others), the creators of these technologies are working arduously to convince farmers, policy-makers and the public alike that digitalisation will be key to the sustainable farming systems of our future.