Precision agriculture adoption by growers in South Central Nebraska

dc.contributor.authorFickenscher, Tyrell
dc.date.accessioned2012-05-01T13:30:28Z
dc.date.available2012-05-01T13:30:28Z
dc.date.graduationmonthMay
dc.date.issued2012-05-01
dc.date.published2012
dc.description.abstractThis thesis was commissioned by Cooperative Producers, Inc. (CPI) of Hastings, Nebraska in order to better understand the preferences and uses of precision agriculture by customers within the company’s trade territory. With the rapid increase of precision agriculture (hardware, software, services, etc.) it is necessary to get a better understanding of what drives growers to adopt and implement precision agriculture practices. A paper survey was sent out in CPI’s monthly statements to patrons that also included instructions to be able to fill out an online survey if that was preferred. From that offering there were a total of 114 responses providing data from which several technology adoption models were estimated. Based on prior experience with precision agriculture and the development of services offered to growers, it is hypothesized that there are three primary variables influencing a grower’s decision to adopt precision agriculture. If the operation is managed by a younger grower (<40 years old), farms with a larger number of acres, and if a high percent of the operation’s acres are irrigated they will be more likely to adopt precision agriculture practices. The survey results generally revealed that younger farmers, larger farm size, and a higher percentage of irrigated acres did not increase the likelihood of utilizing precision agriculture. The questions asked in the survey were designed to provide information for the development of a tool that salespeople offering precision agriculture services could use to determine if a potential customer with be inclined to adopt and utilize precision agriculture. While some of the results were contrary to expectations they do offer insight into what type of customer adopts precision agriculture and a direction for CPI to move in order to maximize market penetration.
dc.description.advisorKevin C. Dhuyvetter
dc.description.degreeMaster of Agribusiness
dc.description.departmentDepartment of Agricultural Economics
dc.description.levelMasters
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2097/13777
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherKansas State University
dc.rights© the author. This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
dc.subjectPrecision Agriculture
dc.subjectVariable rate
dc.subjectTechnology adoption
dc.subject.umiAgriculture, General (0473)
dc.subject.umiAgronomy (0285)
dc.subject.umiEconomics (0501)
dc.subject.umiEconomics, Agricultural (0503)
dc.titlePrecision agriculture adoption by growers in South Central Nebraska
dc.typeThesis

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