Region

Aberdeenshire and Angus in the North-East of Scotland were chosen as focus regions for exploring the uptake of precision farming in the UK. The region is well known for producing barley for the malting industry (over 60% of Scotland’s malting barley), potatoes for national and international markets as well as beef and sheep.

It is the large-scale production of crops (particularly barley and potatoes) in the region that made it ideal for studying the adoption of variable rate precision farming.

Study focus

This study focused upon the adoption of “variable rate” technologies for the more precise application of fertilisers to arable crops in the North-East of Scotland. The study aimed to understand the sources of advice used by farmers and the role played by advisors when it comes to farmers’ decision-making about investments in new innovations.

Precision farming is promoted as an important technological innovation that can contribute to more sustainable agriculture through economic savings, higher yields and environmental benefits (less pollution). However, the economic savings are often disputed since the initial payment of new equipment and machinery as well as data management software can offset any savings from using the technology itself.

Full report is available here.

Partner and responsible person contact

James Hutton Institute (JHI), Aberdeen, Scotland

Christina Noble , christina.noble@hutton.ac.uk

Lessons learned

1. The main factor determining the adoption of precision farming technologies in this region was farm size.
2. Immediate cost savings are important for encouraging the uptake of precision farming technologies.
3. Farmers with a pre-disposition towards new technologies and “gadgets” were observed to be quicker to adopt.
4. The fragmentation of farm advice due to the privatisation and commercialisation of state-funded advisory services since the 1980s has led to farmers now using a great diversity of sources of advice.  This was found to include agronomists, representatives from private chemical input companies, agricultural college branches in the region and various course lecturers and speakers, demonstrations at agricultural shows and neighbouring farmers.
5. The advisors that had the most success in supporting adoption of this innovation in precision farming tended to be from commercial companies offering soil sampling trials.
6. A close and trusting relationship between farmers and advisors was observed to be fundamentally important