Farmer experience with precision agriculture in Denmark and the US Eastern Corn Belt

Two mail surveys were carried out in Denmark and the Eastern Corn Belt, USA in 2002. Questionnaires were sent to 580 farmers who had used precision agriculture (PA) and 198 responses were received. The surveys focused on the current status of use of PA in both countries, including: PA practices, equipment and software, Internet and e-mail use, information sources for PA, satisfaction level from service providers, data handling, interpretation, storage and ownership, value of data for decision making, changes in management practices, desired information and services, and the next planned step in the practice of PA. The survey results showed more similarities in practicing PA between the two countries than differences. Time requirement and high cost of data handling were cited as the main problems. Survey respondents found soil maps to be more valuable than yield maps in management decisions. About 80% of the respondents would like to store the PA data themselves. The majority of the respondents indicated that they have changed their management practices due to PA, but not substantially. Some 90 of the respondents used the Internet and e-mail for agricultural purposes, but only a small number for PA websites.