1. Marvin Batte Fred N. VanBuren Professor of Farm Management Marvin Batte Fred N. VanBuren Professor of Farm Management Precision Farming Adoption in Ohio

2. M. Batte - Precision Farming Adoption - January 2009 Results of the 2007 Precision Farming Survey Statewide survey, $50,000 + gross sales Mailed Questionnaire 2,500 contacts 58.4% response rate

3. M. Batte - Precision Farming Adoption - January 2009 3 Percent of Ohio farmers who had adopted various precision farming components, February 2007.

4. M. Batte - Precision Farming Adoption - January 2009 4 Percent of Ohio farmers who had adopted various precision farming components, 1999, 2003 and 2007.

5. M. Batte - Precision Farming Adoption - January 2009 5 Percent of Ohio farmers who had adopted various precision farming components, 1999, 2003 and 2007 -- continued.

6. M. Batte - Precision Farming Adoption - January 2009 6 Yield Monitor Adoption by Farm Sales Class

7. M. Batte - Precision Farming Adoption - January 2009 7 Adoption of various precision farming components by farm sales class.

8. M. Batte - Precision Farming Adoption - January 2009 Number of Precision Farming Components Adopted by Precision Farming Adopters, 2007

9. M. Batte - Precision Farming Adoption - January 2009 Most Important Precision Farming Components, 2007

10. M. Batte - Precision Farming Adoption - January 2009 Precision Guidance Adoption, 2007

11. M. Batte - Precision Farming Adoption - January 2009 VRT fertilizer adoption

12. M. Batte - Precision Farming Adoption - January 2009 Now, let’s consider usefulness, (or loosely defined) profitability.

13. M. Batte - Precision Farming Adoption - January 2009 PF Component Benefit Evaluation For each of the 16 PF component technologies, we asked the following question for all had adopted.

14. M. Batte - Precision Farming Adoption - January 2009 On my farm, the benefits of this technology clearly exceed its costs.

15. M. Batte - Precision Farming Adoption - January 2009 Adoption of Combine Yield Monitors and GPS

16. M. Batte - Precision Farming Adoption - January 2009 Yield Monitor Benefit Evaluation 3.44 -- Mean score - farmers with yield monitor only 3.99 -- Mean score - farmers with yield monitor + GPS

17. M. Batte - Precision Farming Adoption - January 2009 Net Benefits of the Total PF System For your farm situation, are the total benefits of the precision farming system greater than the total costs of this system? (Circle ONE answer only) 1.Yes, Benefits are significantly greater than Costs 2.Yes, Benefits are slightly greater than Costs 3.Benefits and Costs are about equal 4.No, Costs are slightly greater than Benefits 5.No, Costs are significantly greater than Benefits

18. M. Batte - Precision Farming Adoption - January 2009 18 Net Benefits of the Total PF System, 2007

19. 19 Net Benefits of the Precision Farming System by Gross Sales Class, 2007 M. Batte - Precision Farming Adoption - January 2009

20. 20 Net Benefits of Precision Farming System, 1999, 2003 and 2007

21. Summary Observations “Simple”, turn-key technologies are adopted more quickly. Large farmers are adopting more quickly – Spreading of fixed costs of investment, knowledge development Small farmers are adopting VRT methods, but often contract out the entire process. Small farmers are just as likely to be pleased with the benefit / costs of the PF system. Over time, farmers have indicated higher Benefit/Cost. Is this learning or technology improvement? M. Batte - Precision Farming Adoption - January 2009

22. What does this say about future research needs? VRT of fertilizers will likely expand at a modest rate. – High energy and fertilizer/agrichemical costs will enhance the payoff of these technologies Is Variable Seeding the next high potential technology? M. Batte - Precision Farming Adoption - January 2009

23. Results available at: http://aede.osu.edu/programs/VanBuren/pdf/Precision_Farming_Survey_2007.pdf Note: We are doing another round of the survey this winter. We would be happy to have volunteers to review the survey instrument in late January.