This article was submitted by Dr. Suresh Neethirajan, Dalhousie University Research Chair in Digital Livestock Farming.
When most people think about cybersecurity, they picture banks, hospitals, or government networks. Few imagine dairy barns or poultry houses.
But agriculture is undergoing a quiet technological transformation. On many farms today, cows wear sensors that track health and behaviour. Milking robots operate autonomously. Poultry barns rely on automated ventilation systems that regulate temperature and airflow around the clock. Feed systems, climate controls, and emissions monitoring tools are increasingly connected to cloud platforms.
These technologies are transforming how food is produced. They improve animal welfare, increase efficiency, and help farmers reduce environmental impact.
They also introduce a new kind of risk.
If a cyberattack can disrupt a pipeline or shut down a hospital network, it can also disrupt a farm. A ransomware attack could disable automated milking systems. A compromised ventilation controller in a poultry barn during a winter storm could threaten thousands of birds. Even the manipulation of farm data, such as emissions measurements or production records, could have regulatory and economic consequences.
As agriculture becomes smarter, it also becomes more exposed to cyber threats.
Securing agricultural technologies
At Dalhousie University, our Mooanalytica research team sits at the frontier of digital livestock farming, where artificial intelligence and sensing technologies are transforming barns into intelligent, connected systems. Over the past several years, my work has focused on building digital livestock infrastructure: systems that use sensors, machine learning, and connected devices to monitor animal welfare, farm operations, and environmental conditions in real time.
But as these systems become more sophisticated, a fundamental question emerges: how do we secure them?
Unlike traditional IT systems, farms present unique cybersecurity challenges. Connectivity in rural environments can be limited. Equipment must operate in harsh physical conditions. Technologies need to remain reliable and easy for farmers to use, even during power outages or network disruptions.
Security approaches designed for office networks do not easily translate into agricultural environments.
With support from Public Safety Canada’s Cyber Security Cooperation Program, our team at Dalhousie is launching a new project to strengthen the cyber resilience of Canada’s digital livestock systems. The project focuses on developing secure-by-design digital architectures for connected agricultural technologies.
Part of this work involves developing systems that can verify whether farm data has been altered or tampered with. Another component focuses on detecting unusual behaviour in connected devices such as feeding systems, ventilation controllers, and environmental sensors. By embedding security directly into the architecture of farm technologies, the goal is to identify disruptions early and prevent cascading failures across farm operations.
Real environments, not simulations
Much of this research will be tested in real agricultural environments. At Dalhousie’s Ruminant Animal Centre and the Atlantic Poultry Research Centre, we have the opportunity to evaluate secure digital systems in working barns rather than laboratory simulations.
That real-world context matters. Agricultural technologies must operate reliably in environments that are unpredictable and physically demanding. Security solutions that work in controlled laboratory settings are not enough; they must function during power outages, winter storms, and the daily realities of farm operations.
Technology alone, however, cannot secure the food system.
Another major challenge is building expertise at the intersection of agriculture and cybersecurity. Digital tools are advancing rapidly across the food sector, but training opportunities that combine knowledge of farming with digital security remain limited. Part of this work will involve developing learning opportunities that help producers, students, and technology developers better understand cyber risks in modern agricultural systems.
Ultimately, this work extends far beyond individual farms.
Agriculture underpins food security, rural economies, and environmental stewardship. As food production becomes increasingly digital, protecting these systems becomes a matter of national resilience. Ensuring that connected agricultural technologies are secure helps protect the integrity of food supply chains, environmental reporting systems, and the trust consumers place in modern agriculture.
Cybersecurity is often discussed in terms of protecting financial systems or critical infrastructure. Increasingly, we should recognize that food systems are critical infrastructure too.
And in a world where barns, sensors, and algorithms are becoming part of everyday farming, protecting those systems may prove just as important as protecting banks.
In the digital age, even breakfast needs protection.