Webinar: Precision Agriculture in the Digital Era: Recent Adoption on U.S. Farms

Digital agriculture (DA)—the ongoing transformation of farming that includes digitalization and automation of farming tasks, of which precision agriculture (PA) is a chief element—may be an important part of the solution to several challenges facing U.S. agriculture, including rising production costs, climate change, and labor shortages, among others. Adoption of digital technologies in row-crop production has generally increased since 1996, though use has varied widely by technology and crop.

During this webinar, ERS Research Economist Jonathan McFadden presented Precision Agriculture in the Digital Era: Recent Adoption on U.S. Farms. This report analyzes farmers’ DA adoption rates for soil maps, yield maps, yield monitors, VRT, auto-steer and guidance systems, and aerial imagery across six major crops: corn, cotton, rice, sorghum, soybeans, and winter wheat.

Read the report: Precision Agriculture in the Digital Era: Recent Adoption on U.S. Farms