Trends in Cotton Precision Farming Adoption in Twelve Southern States: 2000-2008

The objectives of this paper are to (i) present results from the 2009 Southern Cotton Precision Farming Survey, and (ii) compare them with results from similar surveys conducted in 2005 and 2001.

A mail survey of 13,783 cotton producers in twelve southern U.S. states was conducted from February to March of 2009. A total of 1,692 producers provided valid responses for an overall response rate of 12.6%.

Survey results suggest a steady increase in the adoption of information gathering, variable rate application, and GPS guidance technologies by southern U.S. cotton farmers from 2000 to 2008. For instance, in 2008, 54% of respondents reported using at least one information gathering technology or applying inputs at variable rates. By contrast, only 46% and 23% of respondents reported using one of these technologies in 2005 and 2001, respectively.

Other results to be included in the paper include changes in cotton producers' perceptions about the value and future importance of precision farming technologies, changes in the perceived benefits of precision farming technologies, and changes in general farm characteristics between precision farming adopters and non-adopters.