Title: PRECISION FARMING: ADOPTION, PROFITABILITY, AND MAKING BETTER USE OF DATA
1PRECISION FARMING ADOPTION, PROFITABILITY, AND
MAKING BETTER USE OF DATA
- T.W. Griffin, J. Lowenberg-DeBoer, D.M. Lambert,
and J. Peone - Site Specific Management Center - Purdue
University - T. Payne and S.G. Daberkow
- USDA-ERS
23 part presentation
- 1) Adoption trends in the US and Worldwide
- 2) Review of PA profitability literature
- 3) Making better use of yield monitor data
3Adoption Trends
- Worldwide network of collaborators
- USDA ARMS study
- PA Services Dealership Survey
- Whipker and Akridge, 2004
4Combine Yield Monitors
5Yield Monitor Grain Flow Sensor
6(No Transcript)
7Yield Map
8Actual Adoption Rates of U.S. Yield Monitors
Approximately 30,000 in 2000 45,000
in 2003
Source before 1995 Mangold After 1995 USDA ARMS
9Actual Adoption Rates of U.S. Yield Mapping
Yield Monitor
plus a GPS
Source USDA ARMS
10European Yield Monitor Use
- Germany 4250 212 2003
- United Kingdom 400 43 2000
- Denmark 400 100 2000
- Sweden 150 48 2000
- France 50 2 2000
- Holland 6 11 2000
- Belgium 6 7 2000
- Spain 5 0 2003
- Portugal 4 3 2003
Per million acres
Total
Year
11Latin American Yield Monitor Use
Total
Per million acres
Year
- Argentina 1000 17 2003
- Brazil 100 1 2002
- Chile 12 8 2000
- Uruguay 4 3 2000
12Yield monitors by country per million acres
13Soil Mapping Adoption
Source USDA ARMS
14Remote Sensing Adoption
Source USDA ARMS
15Adoption of VRT-Fertilizer
Source USDA ARMS
16Adoption of VRT in Corn
Source USDA ARMS
17Adoption of VRT in Soybean
Source USDA ARMS
18Adoption of VRT in Cotton
Source USDA ARMS
19VRT Offered by Ag Retailers
- 67 of service providers offer VRT
- 40 offer single-nutrient VRT
- Still less than 50 by 2006
- 23 offer multi-nutrient VRT in 2004
- 28 of providers expect to offer by 2006
- lt10 offer VRT - seeding
Source Whipker and Akridge, 2004
20Service Providers Offering VRT
fertilizer, lime, and pesticides
Source Whipker and Akridge
21VRT-Fertilizer by Region
Source Whipker and Akridge, 2004
22GPS Lightbars
Purdue Davis Farm
23(No Transcript)
24GPS Lightbar Guidance used by Service
Providers
- 61 offer applications with GPS guidance
- 72 in Midwest
- 39 in other states
Source Whipker and Akridge, 2004
25GPS Auto-Guidance
- 5.3 of dealers use GPS auto-guidance
- 4.2 in Midwest and 7.4 in other states
- Regional difference?
Source Whipker and Akridge, 2004
26On-the-go Sensors
- Soil Dr been around the longest
- Greenseeker
- Norsk Hydro N-sensor
- 320 total units
- 300 in Europe
27Sensors for Mapping
- Soil pH sensor available
- Veris Mobile Sensor Platform gt5 sold
- K sensor being developed
- 7.8 of dealers offer soil EC mapping
Source Whipker and Akridge, 2004
28Fundamental Constraints of Adoption
- Lack of research support
- Human capital costs
- Lack of education and training
29Fundamental Constraints of Adoption
- Lack of support and consulting
- High opportunity cost of management time
- Information-intensive / embodied knowledge
30Information-intensive vs. Embodied knowledge
- Information-intensive
- Field level data to make decisions
- Requires additional data and skill
- VRT and precision agriculture
- IPM
- Embodied knowledge
- Information purchased in the form of an input
- Requires minimal additional data/skill
- Hybrid corn
- Round-up Ready or Bt
31Fundamental Incentives of Adoption
- Technology costs are declining
- Incorporation of technology in society
- GPS in cars and boats
- Increased comfort level with technology
- USDA FSA and NRCS using GIS with farmers
32Fundamental Incentives of Adoption
- Automating Record Keeping
- Identity tracking of commodities
- Pesticide record keeping
- Environmental regulations monitor input use
- May lead into cost sharing for adoption
33Fundamental Incentives of Adoption
- Auto-guidance systems
- Increase farm size with same equipment set
- Reduce overlap, expand work day, increase speed
- Match equipment operations (6, 8, 12 row)
- Controlled trafficking
- Strip till
34Economies of Scale in Data Analysis
- Skill to analyze 2000 ac works for 20,000 ac
- Potential for PA consulting - outsourcing
- Complementary goods and services
35Part 2 PA Profitability Review
- Standalone VRT fertilizer often does not cover
costs - Swinton and Lowenberg-DeBoer (1998)
- In 2000, 63 of studies showed profits, but
budget methods not standardized - Lambert and Lowenberg-DeBoer (2000)
- Economics of precision agriculture are
site-specific
36Profitability Studies to Date
- Reviewed 234 articles
- 210 reported some kind of benefit or loss
- Of those, 68 reported positive benefits
- 52 of studies involved an economist
37Articles by Technology
38Articles by Crop
39Part 3 Better Use of Data
- Many farmers collecting data
- 10 years and several megabytes
- Question remains what to do with the data?
- No one has all the answers
- Is data valuable enough to justify processing?
40Better Use of Data
- Better farm-level experimental designs
- Spatial statistical methods
- More reliable local information
41Better Experimental Designs
- Small plot designs developed 70 years ago
- Blocking and replications neutralize variability
- Precision agriculture measures variability
- Spatial statistics can model variability
42Better Experimental Designs
- Opportunity for fewer replication large blocks
- Types of comparisons farmer tend to conduct
- Experimental designs being tested in 4 states
- Farmer feedback crucial to evaluation
4364 acre field Satellite image taken in
July Red outline is field boundary
44Planned comparison design 3 varieties Single-blo
ck non-replicated Note soil types are outlined
in blue Each variety is represented on each
major soil type/zone
45Once designs are decided upon in
off-season, implementation is simple at
planting time Treatments can be changed at
normal planter refilling times Soybean
harvest can be conducted at any angle to planter
pass
46Yield Monitor Data Analysis
- Yield monitor data analysis service pilot project
- 37th Annual Top Farmer Crop Workshop
- July 18-21, 2004
- More reliable results gained
- http//www.agecon.purdue.edu/topfarmer
47Summary
- Adoption has been slow and uneven
- Economics well documented many studies
- Information-intensive vs. embodied knowledge ag
- Need for analysis services to overcome constraints
48Role of Extension Farm Management
- Third party evaluation desperately needed
- Firm understanding of precision technologies
- Help farmers develop own recommendations instead
of supplying answer - On-farm comparisons
49Role of Extension Farm Management
- Assist farmers and ag businesses in understanding
economics of information - Barriers to adoption are an opportunity for
extension to be more relevant
50- Terry Griffin
- twgriffi_at_purdue.edu
- 765.494.4257
- Site-Specific Management Center
- Purdue University
- http//www.purdue.edu/ssmc