Two-thirds of U.S. large crop farms adopt precision agriculture

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) revealed that approximately 68% of large crop farms are now utilizing precision agriculture (PA) technologies. These technologies, which include yield monitors, yield maps, and soil maps, assist farm operators in making more informed decisions. The findings were part of the annual “Farms and Ranches at a Glance” report, which highlighted a significant uptake of PA among high-volume farms, despite previous findings that suggested a lower nationwide adoption rate.

The report indicates that larger farms are increasingly implementing PA to boost yields, cut input costs, and alleviate operator fatigue. In contrast, the adoption rates among smaller farms remain minimal. “The adoption of precision agriculture technologies tends to increase with farm size, primarily because the benefits are more substantial for larger operations,” noted the Economic Research Service (ERS).

This trend is a marked increase from last year’s data, which showed that 27% of crop and livestock farms employed at least one type of PA technology, reflecting a growth of 2 percentage points over two years. PA technology, which has been available since the 1990s but often comes with high costs, enables row-crop farmers to meticulously manage production down to small plots rather than whole fields, thereby optimizing the use of seeds, fertilizers, and other inputs.

The “farms at a glance” report differentiated PA usage by farm size, showing a notable prevalence among large operators, whereas other studies have focused on adoption rates by state or specific crops. According to the 2023 Technology Use report, 27% of farms utilized PA, with adoption rates above 50% in major grain-producing states.

Despite the dominance of small farms in the U.S., where more than 80% have gross cash farm incomes under $350,000, large farms, which generate incomes over $1 million annually, contribute to half of the agricultural production value. The use of information-generating technology and auto-steer systems is particularly common on these larger farms, employed by about 70% of them. Other technologies like variable-rate technology and drones are used by 45% and 12% of large farms, respectively.

Challenges to broader adoption of PA include high costs, poor internet connectivity, and device incompatibility, as outlined in a congressional report earlier this year. “Technologies that are simple to operate are generally adopted more swiftly and broadly than those that are complex or require significant time and resources from farmers,” the report concluded, noting that technologies demanding extensive data management present higher barriers to entry and are less widely adopted.