Grid soil sampling adoption and abandonment in cotton production

• Published in: Precision agriculture Vol. 11; no. 2; pp. 135 - 147
• Main Authors: Walton, Jonathan C, Roberts, Roland K, Lambert, Dayton M, Larson, James A, English, Burton C, Larkin, Sherry L, Martin, Steven W, Marra, Michele C, Paxton, Kenneth W, Reeves, Jeanne M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Boston : Springer US 01.04.2010; Springer US; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agribusiness; Agricultural economics; Agricultural land; Agricultural technology; Agriculture; Analysis; Atmospheric Sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Chemistry and Earth Sciences; Computer Science; Costs; Cotton; Decision making; Farm management; Farmers; Farms; Fertilizer application; Information technology; Life Sciences; Livestock; Mathematical models; Physics; Precision farming; R&D; Remote Sensing/Photogrammetry; Research & development; Soil Science & Conservation; Soils; Statistics for Engineering; Studies; Technological change; Technology; Technology adoption; USA; Grid soil sampling; Abandonment; Cotton; Adoption; Probit; Fertilizer
• ISSN: 1385-2256; 1573-1618
• DOI: 10.1007/s11119-009-9144-y

Technology adoption in precision agriculture has received considerable attention, while abandonment has received little. Survey data are now available to evaluate adoption and abandonment decisions. Understanding the factors motivating technology adoption and abandonment has implications for educational efforts directed toward improving the efficiency of production inputs and for research and development to improve the value of precision agriculture technologies. The objective of this research was to identify factors motivating the adoption and abandonment of grid soil sampling in precision cotton production. These decisions were evaluated assuming a random utility model. Data were obtained from a 2005 survey of cotton producers in 11 Southeastern states in the USA. Results from limited dependent variable regressions indicate that younger producers who farmed more cotton area, owned more of their cropland, planted larger amounts of non-cotton area, used a computer for farm management and used a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) in the field were more likely to adopt grid soil sampling for cotton precision farming. Results also suggest that producers with more cotton area who owned livestock and adopted management zone soil sampling were more likely to abandon grid soil sampling, while those who used a PDA in the field, used grid soil sampling for more years and followed up grid soil sampling with variable-rate fertilizer application were less likely to abandon grid soil sampling for cotton production.