TY - JOUR
T1 - Understanding farmer views of precision agriculture profitability in the U.S. Midwest
AU - Wang, Tong
AU - Jin, Hailong
AU - Sieverding, Heidi
AU - Kumar, Sandeep
AU - Miao, Yuxin
AU - Rao, Xudong
AU - Obembe, Oladipo
AU - Mirzakhani Nafchi, Ali
AU - Redfearn, Daren
AU - Cheye, Stephen
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2023/11
Y1 - 2023/11
N2 - Precision Agriculture (PA) technologies are well known to be useful in addressing field heterogeneities and enabling informed site-specific management decisions. While profitability is the foremost factor considered by farmers when making PA adoption decisions, information in this regard is lacking from the farmers' perspective. This paper analyzed 1119 farmer responses from a 2021 survey conducted in four states along the western margins of the U.S. Midwest. Our findings show that while most (around 60%) non-adopters indicate that they are unaware of PA profit change, adopters are likely to rate a major profit increase. About two thirds of adopters rated at least a 5% increase in profitability towards variable rate (VR) fertilizer application (72%), VR seed application (68%), and automatic section control (66%). We modeled farmers' profit change subsequent to PA adoptions. Our regression results demonstrate that the profits from PA usage increase over time and that use of conservation practices likely influences PA profitability in a positive way. As soil quality and weather factors also affect profit ratings, it would be beneficial to compare and demonstrate profitability potential of various PA technologies on a regional basis and tailor the promotion efforts to farmers most likely to benefit from them.
AB - Precision Agriculture (PA) technologies are well known to be useful in addressing field heterogeneities and enabling informed site-specific management decisions. While profitability is the foremost factor considered by farmers when making PA adoption decisions, information in this regard is lacking from the farmers' perspective. This paper analyzed 1119 farmer responses from a 2021 survey conducted in four states along the western margins of the U.S. Midwest. Our findings show that while most (around 60%) non-adopters indicate that they are unaware of PA profit change, adopters are likely to rate a major profit increase. About two thirds of adopters rated at least a 5% increase in profitability towards variable rate (VR) fertilizer application (72%), VR seed application (68%), and automatic section control (66%). We modeled farmers' profit change subsequent to PA adoptions. Our regression results demonstrate that the profits from PA usage increase over time and that use of conservation practices likely influences PA profitability in a positive way. As soil quality and weather factors also affect profit ratings, it would be beneficial to compare and demonstrate profitability potential of various PA technologies on a regional basis and tailor the promotion efforts to farmers most likely to benefit from them.
KW - Adoption
KW - Conservation practices
KW - Farm survey
KW - Precision agriculture
KW - Profit change
KW - Soil quality
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107950
DO - 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107950
M3 - Short survey
AN - SCOPUS:85166538057
SN - 0921-8009
VL - 213
JO - Ecological Economics
JF - Ecological Economics
M1 - 107950
ER -