Platform Communication and Big Data Sharing in Norwegian Farming Organizations

The farming sector is currently at the nexus between traditional farming and digitalization advances. In the realm of digital farming, farmers are the owners of important farming data that can be gathered in big data sets on digital platforms and used for decision-making and value creating purposes. Previous research has shown, however, that only about one-third of farmers are willing to share their farming data on the big data platforms due to the lack of trust and low incentives. This chapter examines a unique and novel practice of farm data sharing on such platforms by Norwegian farmers. It illustrates how digital platforms structure communication and data sharing between multiple actors in the Norwegian pig farming and meat-producing sectors at the national level. The chapter concludes that besides trust and incentives, farmers’ willingness to share farming data may also be explained by a moral obligation of ethical and sustainable animal keeping and proofs of good animal welfare practices to maintain consumer trust and loyalty.