Adoption of Automatic Section Control in Cotton Production

Automatic Section Control is a precision farming technology that has been rapidly adopted by producers in that past few years. Automatic Section Control (ASC) technologies provide control over planting or spraying operations such that sections or rows on the planters/sprayers are turned off in areas of the field that had been previously covered or on and off at point and end rows, during headland turns, and when avoiding obstacles within a field boundary. Potential benefits of this technology are input savings, improved application efficiency, and environmental stewardship. Little is known about adoption rates among cotton farmers and the factors affecting adoption of this technology. Using descriptive statistics and a probit regression, we identified adoption rates of ASC technology among cotton producers in the southeast region and potential factors influencing the adoption of ASC for planters and sprayers. Such information may be useful for industry in terms of product marketing and for Extension with respect to informational programming and dissemination.