Results from a Cotton Precision Farming Survey in Florida

This poster will summarize the results of Florida respondents to a 2013 precision farming survey that was sent to all cotton farmers in 14 Southeastern U.S. States. A total of 28 Florida farmers responded from 7 counties in northern Florida (primarily the Panhandle region). Information from these farmers and their farms will be summarized and compared to similar studies conducted in 2001, 2005, and 2009, including the identification of any trends related to the adoption and use of specific precision farming technologies. In the 2013 survey, the Florida farms averaged 55 years old and had nearly 30 years of making farming decisions. Nearly 75% of their household income was from farming. A total of 52% reported using precision farming for cotton production where precision farming was described as follows: Precision farming involves collecting information about within-field variability in yields and crop needs, and using that information to manage inputs. Following adoption, 38% reported increases in cotton lint quality and 43% reported observing improvements in environmental quality as compared to 23% and 21%, respectively that reported no changes (the remainder indicated they did not know). When asked whether they thought precision farming would be profitable in the future, only 70% believed so with 48% citing that it is too expensive. With respect to using variable rate technology to apply inputs to cotton acreage, 44% did and 62% of those used maps generated by consultants. Of those reporting increases in cotton yields as a result of applying inputs at variable rates, the average yield increase was 139 lbs lint/acre (ranging from 5 to 400). Finally, respondents were asked whether they were aware of programs that provided partial reimbursement for adoption of variable rate technologies; only 46% were aware of such programs and, of those, only 21% received some reimbursement.