Adoption, Profitability, and Making Better Use of Precision Farming Data (original) (raw)
Related papers
Farm Profits and Adoption of Precision Agriculture
Precision agriculture (PA) and its suite of information technologies—such as soil and yield mapping using a global positioning system (GPS), GPS tractor guidance systems, and variable-rate input application—allow farm operators to fine-tune their production practices. Access to detailed, within-field information can decrease input costs and increase yields. USDA’s Agricultural Resource Management Survey hows that these PA technologies were used on roughly 30 to 50 percent of U.S. corn and soybean acres in 2010-12. Previous studies suggest that use of PA is associated with higher profits under certain conditions, but aggregate estimates of these gains have not been available. In this report, a treatment-effects model is developed to estimate factors associated with PA technology adoption rates and the impacts of adoption on profits. Labor and machinery used in production and certain farm characteristics, like farm size, are associated with adoption as well as with two profit measures, net returns and operating profits. The impact of these PA technologies on profits for U.S. corn producers is positive, but small.
Sequential Adoption and Cost Savings from Precision Agriculture
Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 2016
Precision agricultural (PA) technologies can decrease input costs by providing farmers with more detailed information and application control, but adoption has been sluggish, especially for variable-rate technologies (VRT). Is it possible that farmers have difficulty realizing these cost savings? Combinations of PA technologies are considered as complements, testing several patterns of PA technology adoption that may show different levels of costs. The USDA’s Agricultural Resource Management Survey of corn producers is used to estimate a treatment-effects model that allows for selection bias. VRT contributes additional production cost savings when added to soil mapping, but not when done with yield mapping alone.
Farm Types and Precision Agriculture Adoption: Crops, Regions, Soil Variability, and Farm Size
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2020
In the United States average adoption rates have increased for precision agriculture (PA) technologies used to produce many field crops. PA makes use of information collected on the farm to target site-specific, intensive management of farm production. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) allows close examination of regional patterns of adoption, and how crop types and region interact with differences in farm sizes and soil productivity variability to influence adoption rates. The most common PA technologies are guidance systems that use global positioning systems (GPS) to steer tractors and other farm equipment. Remote sensing, soil mapping, and yield mapping all use GPS to geolocate data and create maps used to guide farm management decision. Variable rate input-application technologies (VRT) make use of remote images, soil tests, yields maps and other sources of information to apply different, more precise levels of inputs in farmer's fields. GPS guided VRT fertilization was introduced in the early 1990s and increased slowly over the last three decades. The ARMS data for winter wheat (2017), corn (2016) and soybeans (2012) showed use of VRT seeding and pesticide applications growing rapidly. The data indicated that PA technology was being used on farms across all sizes and all regions, with adoption occurring more rapidly on larger farms. VRT use on soybean farms was highest in areas of higher soil variability.
Worldwide adoption and profitability of precision agriculture Implications for Brazil
2005
Precision agriculture (PA) technology has been on the market for almost 15 years. Global Positioning Systems (GPS), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), yield monitors, variable rate technologies (VRT) and other spatial management technologies are being used by farmers worldwide, but questions remain about the profitability of the technology and its future. This paper summarizes: 1) data on worldwide adoption of PA technology,2) review of PA economics studies and 3) implications for Brazil. Worldwide adoption estimates are based on reports by an international network of collaborators. The PA profitability summary goes beyond previous reviews by including a large number of publications from the last three years, a more detailed breakdown of results by technology type and new technologies. For Brazil, low land prices, low wage rates, focus on commodity crops, and the high cost of imported technology would tend to discourage PA adoption, especially for the classic PA technologies like...
Precision application technology has been an important topic in agriculture in recent years. This technology has the promise to improve farm management through improved information and control over in-field variability of soil characteristics and productivity. Despite this apparent promise, recent studies have shown that adoption has been low. However, little is known about the adoption of this technology in Mississippi or the reasons for or against adoption as seen through the eyes of the producer. This survey was designed to collect basic information on producer perceptions about precision agriculture technology and to assess potential reasons for or against adoption.
Adoption and Use of Precision Agriculture Technologies by Practitioners
A survey of farmers was initiated to ascertain the adoption and use of precision agriculture technologies as well as the barriers to and incentives for adoption. Farm-level data were collected via audience response system at the 2009 Alabama Precision Ag and Field Crops Conference. Farmers" adoption or intended adoption of differing levels of precision technology were evaluated ranging from information-intensive yield monitors to embodied-knowledge automated guidance and spray boom controls. Results were compared to statistics reported by the USDA Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) and the annual CropLife/Purdue University Precision Ag Survey where applicable. Approximately 180 Alabama farmers participated in this pilot project which is being replicated across the U.S. to compare adoption and perceptions of precision agriculture.
Drivers of Precision Agriculture Technologies Adoption: A Literature Review
Procedia Technology, 2013
In this review, we identify the key drivers that affect the intention to adopt Precision Agriculture (PA) technologies. Research articles concerning the adoption of PA were collected and subdivided into two groups: (1) ex-post assessments that make use of utility-based models, and (2) ex-ante assessments that make use of predictive models. Principal classes of constructs were identified and utilized to interpret what factors promoted the use of PA technologies by farmers. Three classes of drivers influencing PA adoption are presented. This review confirms the necessity to focus on the design of an appropriated adoption process and on innovation's features.
ADOPTION OF PRECISION FARMING TECHNOLOGIES: USA AND EU SITUATION
SEA - Practical Application of Science, 2020
Through this article, the author aims to identify the adoption rates and types of precision farming technologies embraced by farmers in the USA and the EU. Research papers in relation to the adoption of precision agriculture technologies were collected and divided into two groups, according to their geographic region: USA and EU. Books, scientific articles, reports and conference papers were reviewed and studied. Likewise, the material about the adoption of precision agriculture technologies was accumulated. The level of adoption in the USA differs from one state to another. The percentage rate of adoption is higher in the Southern States, and the overall adoption of precision agriculture technologies reaches to about 91%. United Kingdom, Denmark and Germany have higher rates of adoption compared with other countries in the EU. Similarly, the percentage rate of adoption is higher in the USA in comparison with EU countries. In the USA prevails a diversification of precision agriculture technologies adopted by US farmers. On the contrary, in the EU, the majority of research papers reported mainly some level of adoption of yield monitors/mapping and variable rate technologies for applying inputs.