Adoption of digital technologies in agriculture-an inventory in a european small-scale farming region

As digitalization in the agricultural sector has intensified, the number of studies addressing adoption and use of digital technologies in crop production and livestock farming has also increased. However, digitalization trends in the context of small-scale farming have mainly been excluded from such studies. The focus of this paper is on investigating the sequential adoption of precision agriculture (PA) and other digital technologies, and the use of multiple technologies in a small-scale agricultural region in southern Germany. An online survey of farmers yielded a total of 2,390 observations, of which 1,820 operate in field farming, and 1,376 were livestock farmers. A heuristic approach was deployed to identify adoption patterns. Probable multiple uses of 30 digital farming technologies and decision-support applications, as well as potential trends of sequential technology adoption were analyzed for four sequential points of adoption (entry technology, currently used technologies, and planned short-term and mid-term investments). Results show that Bavarian farmers cannot be described as exceedingly digitalized but show potential adoption rates of 15-20% within the next five years for technologies such as barn robotics, section control, variable-rate applications, and maps from satellite data. Established use of entry technologies (e.g., automatic milking systems, digital field records, automatic steering systems) increased the probability of adoption of additional technologies. Among the most used technologies, the current focus is on user-friendly automation solutions that reduce farmers' workload. Identifying current equipment and technology trends in small-scale agriculture is essential to strengthen policy efforts to promote digitalization.

Automated summary

As digitalization in agriculture increases, studies on the adoption and use of digital technologies in crop production and livestock farming have also grown. However, the focus on digitalization trends in small-scale farming has been limited. This study investigates the sequential adoption of precision agriculture and other digital technologies, as well as the use of multiple technologies, in a small-scale agricultural region in southern Germany. The results show that Bavarian farmers have the potential to adopt technologies like barn robotics, section control, variable-rate applications, and satellite data maps in the next five years. The study highlights the importance of identifying current equipment and technology trends in small-scale agriculture to promote digitalization.