Farmers' Attitudes to the Benefits and Barriers of Adopting Automation for Surface Irrigation on Dairy Farms in Australia

The study reports farmers' attitudes and perceptions towards the "barriers" and "benefits" of automatic irrigation systems. Factor analysis was used to identify perceived "barriers" and "benefits" and the impact of these on farmers' priority to adopt automation was examined. Results suggest that farmers' attitudes, particularly with respect to "cost" and "lifestyle" influenced the priority given to adopting automatic irrigation systems. The area under pasture cultivation was also an important determinant in the farmers' priority for adopting automatic irrigation systems.