Profit CalculatorWhat's Your ROI?
Using the Guidance & Section Control Profit Calculator, growers can calculate their payback from guidance technology. Learn more
PrecisionAg TV
Trimble's EZ-Guide Lightbar
Sid Siefken demonstrates variable-rate application with Trimble's EZ-Guide 500 lightbar system. Watch Now.
GrayVideo: Data Collection
Illinois producer Wayne Gray shares his views on the benefits of collecting site-specific data. Watch now.

  

PrecisionAg Resources

Precision Ag Research -- 2007

Background and Highlights
K. Elliott Nowels

Our initial research effort in 2006 - 2007 focused on understanding the key barriers to adopting precision ag technology listed by non-adopters in key crops of corn, soybeans, cotton and wheat, and gaining a clear view of the benefits – tangible and intangible – that users were experiencing with the technology.

To carry out that intent, we developed a screening process of locating adopters and non-adopters from a pool of more than 3,000 growers. We wanted to gain information on the relative understanding had by growers of precision agriculture technology.

Our study objectives were:

  • Determine what the term “Precision Agriculture” means to growers, both adopters and non-adopters.
  • For adopters, determine why the technology is used in their operation.
  • For non-adopters, determine why precision agriculture technology is not used in their operation.
  • Determine the primary benefits of precision agriculture.
  • Determine the primary barriers to adopting precision agriculture technology.
  • Determine whether or not adopters have a partner that works with them ad what assistance they provide.
  • Determine what technology growers might consider to be helpful in crop production, i.e. electronic controller driven devices, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and yield monitoring.
  • Learn the criteria corn/soybean, wheat and cotton growers use to evaluate new technology when considering adoption.
  • Determine corn/soybean, wheat and cotton growers’ perception of value regarding the different components of precision ag.

A total of 600 growers participated in this study, each one with a minimum of 500 acres of cropland. We sought 150 growers who identified themselves as strongest in a specific crop, either corn, cotton, soybeans or wheat. Of the total number of growers, 336 were current users of precision ag technology and 264 non-adopters who had no precision ag technology in their operations.

Key findings are found by clicking on the individual signs located within the research section of the WORKS website.