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Factors affecting farmer adoption of remotely sensed imagery for precision management in cotton production

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Abstract

This research evaluated the factors that influenced cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) producers to adopt remote sensing for variable-rate application of inputs. A logit model estimated with data from a 2005 mail survey of cotton producers in 11 southern USA states was used to evaluate the adoption of remote sensing. The most frequently made management decisions using remote sensing were the application of plant growth regulators, the identification of drainage problems and the management of harvest aids. A producer who was younger, more highly educated and had a larger farm with irrigated cotton was more likely to adopt remote sensing. In addition, farmers who used portable computers in fields and produced their own map-based prescriptions had a greater probability of using remote sensing. The results suggest that value-added map-making services from imagery providers greatly increased the likelihood of a farmer being a user of remote sensing.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Cotton Incorporated and the Experiment Stations in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee, USA, for funding this research. We also wish to thank Dayton Lambert and the anonymous reviewers for their useful suggestions that greatly improved this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Economics, The University of Tennessee, 308G Morgan Hall, 2621 Morgan Circle, Knoxville, TN, 37996-4518, USA

    James A. Larson, Roland K. Roberts & Burton C. English

  2. University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Sherry L. Larkin

  3. North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Michele C. Marra

  4. Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, USA

    Steven W. Martin

  5. Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA

    Kenneth W. Paxton

  6. Cotton Incorporated, Cary, NC, USA

    Jeanne M. Reeves

Authors
  1. James A. Larson
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  2. Roland K. Roberts
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  3. Burton C. English
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  4. Sherry L. Larkin
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  5. Michele C. Marra
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  6. Steven W. Martin
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  7. Kenneth W. Paxton
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  8. Jeanne M. Reeves
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Correspondence to James A. Larson.

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Larson, J.A., Roberts, R.K., English, B.C. et al. Factors affecting farmer adoption of remotely sensed imagery for precision management in cotton production. Precision Agric 9, 195–208 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-008-9065-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-008-9065-1

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