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Precision Agriculture in Denmark

Denmark is one of the few countries where the government statistics office collects information on the adoption of precision agriculture (PA). In 2017 and 2018 a stratified sample was drawn from all farms with cultivated area registered with the government for administrative and regulatory purposes. The results are based on 6281respondents in 2017 and 5708 in 2018. Some key results:
  • In 2018 23% of Danish crop farmers used some kind of precision agriculture. The Danish survey asked about Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), sprayer section control, software for planning nitrogen applications, satellite & drone images and crop sensors.
  • PA is adopted more commonly on larger farms, so in 2018 57% of cultivated land was managed with some PA technology.
  • The most commonly adopted PA technology is GNSS guidance. In 2018 Real Time Kinematic (RTK) Global Positioning Systems (GPS) were used by 19% of farms covering 51% of cultivated area.
  • Sprayer section control has followed a similar pattern to GNSS guidance. In 2018, it was used by 14% of farms covering 39% of cultivated area.
  • In 2018 drone or satellite images were used by 4% of farms with 13% of cultivated area.
  • Crop sensors were used by only 2% of farms covering 7% of cultivated area in 2018.
  • In 2017, the survey asked about variable rate technology for fertilizer. In that year 7% of farms used VRT fertilizer.
For more information:
Denmark Statistics. 2017. Satellit-teknologi vinder frem hos unge landmænd (Satellite technology is gaining ground among young farmers). https://www.dst.dk/da/Statistik/nyt/NytHtml?cid=29269
Denmark Statistics. 2018. Avanceret teknologi indtager de danske marker (Advanced technology occupies Danish fields). https://www.dst.dk/da/Statistik/nyt/NytHtml?cid=30775