1B. Erickson, 2J. Lowenberg-DeBoer, 3J. Bradford
1. Agronomy Education Distance & Outreach Director, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
2. Elizabeth Creak Professor of Agri-Tech Applied Economics, Harper Adams University, Newport, Shropshire, United Kingdom
3. Graduate Research Assistant, Purdue University
The CropLife/Purdue University precision dealer survey is the longest-running continuous survey of precision farming adoption. The 2017 survey is the 18th, conducted every year from 1997 to 2009, and then every other year following. For individuals working in agriculture there is great value in knowing who is doing what and why, to get a better understanding of the utilities and applications, and to guide investments. A major revision in survey questions was made in 2017, to reflect the growth in data driven agriculture. But the long-term trend questions were left intact, to continue to log changes in the industry. Major sections of the survey include precision technologies used by the retailers within their business/on their equipment, the adoption rates of precision products and services offered by retailers to customers, the dealer’s estimation of the acres in their area where farmers are using precision practices, and questions about profitability, technology investment, and constraints to adoption.
The 2017 survey shows substantial increases in the adoption of practices that provide data for understanding and managing inter- and intra-field variability. Grid/zone soil sampling, which was being offered by 35 to 57% of dealers in a period stretching from 1999 to 2013, increased to 67% in 2015 and to 78% offering in 2017. Soil EC mapping increased from 19% in 2015 to 31% in 2017, and dealers offering UAV services from 19% to 30%. At the same time variable rate technology (VRT) seeding prescriptions, VRT lime application, and VRT fertilizer application services are up, yet VRT pesticide offerings are down. Seventy eight percent of dealers are using autoguidance for their custom application and 73% are using sprayer section controllers.
Dealers report that pooled farmer data is most used to guide fertilizer and liming decisions and for variable hybrid placement, and least used for determining crop seeding rates or crop sequences/rotations.
The most profitable precision offerings for dealers are generally related to fertilizers and soil amendments: grid or zone soil sampling, VRT liming, VRT fertilizer applications, and VRT fertilizer prescriptions. Dealers report some of their least profitable offerings to be satellite/aerial imagery, UAV/drone imagery, and chlorophyll/greenness sensors.
