By Andi Anderson
Precision agriculture is a suite of technologies that can help farmers improve their efficiency and profitability. Farmers use precision agriculture technologies to collect data about their crops and fields, and then use that data to make informed decisions about inputs such as fertilizer and water.
A new Iowa Farm Poll has found that farmers are open to adopting new precision agriculture technologies. The poll found that 66% of farmers use GPS yield monitors or maps, 56% use GPS guidance systems, and 56% use variable rate equipment.
However, some precision agriculture technologies are less widely used. For example, only 30% of farmers currently use data from online decision tools. However, the poll found that 21% of farmers plan to start using online decision tools within the next three years, and 25% are open to using them in the future.
The poll also asked farmers about the potential benefits and downsides of precision agriculture. Most farmers agreed that precision agriculture could increase efficiency related to inputs and increase yields for individual crops. However, farmers also had concerns about the potential downsides of precision agriculture.
More than half of farmers expressed concern over what their data might be used for, with 52% concerned their data could be used for regulatory purposes, and 41% concerned corporations would use the data for their own benefit, and not for farmers. More than 70% were concerned that precision agriculture would lead to fewer and larger farms.
Despite these concerns, the poll results suggest that farmers are open to adopting new precision agriculture technologies. This information can be useful for private and public sector entities that work to help farmers increase productivity while minimizing environmental impacts.
Photo Credit: istock-ekkasit919
Categories: Iowa, Crops