USDA’s recent report on precision agriculture and adoption of digital technologies shows some bright spots. It also illustrates challenges and areas of opportunity for farmers and the value chain that supports them.

The good news: Adoption of automation technologies has grown significantly in the past 20 years. Nationwide, use of GPS is well over 50% and as high as 73% for sorghum and cotton acres, according to USDA’s “Precision Agriculture in the Digital Era: Recent Adoption on U.S. Farms." Yield maps and yield monitors hover around 50% adoption, up from single digits in the late 1990s, though use of the data depends heavily on crop and year.

The overwhelming majority (95%) of cotton and sorghum producers and two-thirds of soybean producers use yield monitor data to help determine chemical input use. Corn and wheat producers largely use yield monitors to measure moisture content. Corn and soybean producers also use the data to improve or add drainage.

The challenging news: Data-based decision support stops there. Soil-mapping implementation has plateaued below 25% or has fallen slightly in the past 10 years. Variable-rate application of fertilizers remains at or below 25% for all crops except corn (37%).

Additionally, use of imaging technology remains in the single digits. Adoption of all technologies is particularly troubling for smaller farmers: “Except for cotton, less than 25% of smaller farms (those with acreage in the first quintile) rely on yield maps, soil maps, VRT, and/or guidance systems,” the report says. 

Farmers who see the largest benefits of precision agriculture tend to use an integrated approach to technology systems. This includes data capture and management along with real-time decision making. Larger operations tend to benefit from a fully connected agriculture platform because of economies of scale. Meanwhile, many smaller farm operations manage their businesses with a patchwork of technologies.

With our national coalitions that include America’s Conservation Ag Movement and Trust In Beef, we’re working with partners to help producers go beyond data capture and automation. Together, we will support farmers and ranchers as they integrate technologies that will meaningfully support their decisions to improve productivity, manage risk, minimize environmental impact and access emerging markets.

Our experience studying the human dimension of climate-smart change shows that tools and information alone are insufficient to help producers with their sustainability investments. Those resources must be paired with something decidedly more low-tech: Trust-based, human-to-human working relationships. Valued advisers and partners can help farmers and ranchers test new approaches, learn and implement those systems on their operations, and stick with them so they can experience the full benefits. 

USDA's research illustrates the tremendous potential that remains across working lands to accelerate these kinds of collaborative relationships. It reminds us that transformation is a natural part of farming and that each of us has a role to play in supporting producers at every stage of their journey.

Yours in regenerative ag,
Amy Skoczlas Cole
President, Trust In Food™