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Adoption And Use Of Precision Agriculture Technologies By Practitioners
1A. T. Winstead, 1S. H. Norwood, 2T. Griffin, 3A. M. Adrian, 4M. Runge, 4J. P. Fulton
1. Alabama Cooperative Extension System
2.
3. Alabama Cooperative Extension System and Auburn University
4. Auburn University

A survey of farmers and farm service providers were 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 and local winter production meetings across the six crop reporting districts in Alabama. Service provider data were collected using an online survey. Questions common to farmers and service providers allow for comparison of the perceptions from both groups. Farmers’ adoption or intended adoption of differing levels of precision technology were evaluated ranging from information-intensive yield monitor data use to embodied-knowledge automated guidance and spray boom controls. Results were compared to current 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.

Keyword: precision agriculture, audience response, adoption, survey, technology