2019 CropLife/Purdue Precision Agriculture Dealer Survey:

More Moves Toward Decision AgricultureBruce Erickson, Education and Distance Outreach Director,

Agronomy Department, Purdue University

James Lowenberg-DeBoer, Elizabeth Creak Professor of Agri-Tech Applied Economics, Harper Adams University

1

Precision Dealer Survey Specs

• Conducted yearly 1997 to 2009, then every other year.

• Topics:• Precision technologies used by the retailers in their business• Precision products and services offered to customers• Retailers’ estimation of farmer use of precision practices• Profitability, technology investment, constraints to adoption• Added more data questions in 2017

• Use U.S. CropLife magazine contact list

• Respondents include cooperatives, independents, multi-location regional companies

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• Highlights published in July CropLife magazine

• Full reports posted online: http://agribusiness.purdue.edu/precision-ag-survey

2019 Headlines:

• Automated technologies are in a maturing market in North America—this isn’t news;

• Knowledge intense technologies to sense, inform, and react are making gains but still lag—this isn’t news either!

• Dealers see big promise for UAVs in future.

• Dealers see big promise in precision pest management.

• Big uptick in using on-farm data for decision making.

4

Retailer Use of Precision Technology in 2019

• GPS Guidance and sprayer section control is standard practice

• Satellite and aerial imagery used by two thirds for internal purposes.

5

Precision Ag Technology 2017 2019GPS guidance systems with automatic control (autosteer) for

fertilizer/chemical application78% 86

Auto sprayer boom section or nozzle control 73% 72GPS guidance systems with manual control (light bar) for

fertilizer/chemical application55% 56

Satellite/aerial imagery for internal dealership purposes 52% 65Smart scouting using an app on a mobile device to record field

situations and locations44% 44

Field mapping with GIS to document work for billing/insurance/legal

purposes43% 46

UAV or drone for internal dealership purposes 34% 38GPS to manage vehicle logistics, tracking locations of vehicles, and

guiding vehicles to the next site34% 36

Telematics to exchange information among applicators or to/from office

locations24% 30

Sprayer turn compensation 22% 22Y drops on fertilizer applicators 19% 25Other soil sensors for mapping, mounted on a pickup, applicator or

tractor (example: pH sensor) 9% 9

Chlorophyll/greenness sensors mounted on a pickup, applicator or

tractor (CropSpec, GreenSeeker, OptRx, etc.)9% 7

Retailers Adopted GPS Guidance Rapidly for Internal Business Use (% of Retailers)

• Lightbars rapidly adopted starting in late 1990s

• Autosteer rapidly adopted starting in about 2004

• Both are easy to use and have short run benefits

24%

42%44%

56%

61%64%

67% 68%73%

79%

66% 65%63%

55%59%

5% 6%

20%27%

37%

53%63% 61%

83%

78%

90%

4%2% 3%

5%

4%

6% 5%8%

11%

16%20%

37%34%

38%

2% 3%1%

3% 3%7%

15%

20%

9%

32%

39%

53%

74% 73%75%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

GPS guidanceGPS guidance with manual control/lightbarGPS guidance with auto control/ autosteerGPS for logisticsTelemetry - field-home officeGPS-enabled sprayer boom/nozzle control

Ag Retailers Slower to Offer Data Gathering Technologies to Customers (% of Retailers)• Data collection technologies

are foundation of data-driven farming

• Intensive soil sampling services have become almost standard practice.

• After many years 70% offer satellite imagery

• Big future plans for UAV services

• 2022 numbers are their projections

7

33%

45%

38%36%

44%

52%

47%45%45%

40%

53%52% 52%

57%

67%

82%

89%91%

24%

29% 23%18%

24%

30%28%29%

27%26%

34%39%36%

42%

51% 57%

62%

70%

12% 13%15%

19%15%

26%

23%

25%

33%

48%

59%

70%

80%

14% 13%

19%

34%

33%

40%

32%

37%

57%

69%

14%

31%

43%

54%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

19

97

19

98

19

99

20

00

20

01

20

02

20

03

200

4

20

05

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

20

12

20

13

20

14

20

15

20

16

20

17

20

18

20

19

20

20

20

21

202

2

Grid or zone soil sampling

Yield monitor and other data analysis

Satellite/aerial imagery

Soil EC mapping

UAV or drone imagery

Grid or zone plant tissue sampling

Wired or wireless sensor networks

Electronic records/mapping for traceability

Soil Sampling←More dealers sample in grids

than zones

←If zones, soil mapping units or yield maps most common method for delineation

←If grids, 2.5 acres most common size

8

67%

79%

62%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Traditional, whole fieldapproach

Grid pattern

Management zones

39%

42%

12%

13%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Soil Mapping Unit

Yield Map

Electrical Conductivity

Other

0%

12%

63%

27%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

< 1 acre

1 acre - 2.49 Acre

2.5 acre

2.51 acre - 5 acre

% of Respondents

Dealer Offerings of Variable Rate Technologies

• % of Retailers

• VRT is the action side of data technologies for data-driven farming

• Big plans for VRT pesticides

• 2022 are projections

9

81%

88% 91%

20%

32%32%29%

50%45%

41%43%

47%43%

56%56% 54% 54%

69%

9%15%14%

16%20%

26%23%22%

25%25%

33%39%42% 42%

64%

33%37%34%33%

36%33%

44%44% 45% 45%

59%

67%70% 74%

10%12%12%14%16%13%

23%23%

22% 22%

27%

17% 20%

50%

3% 3% 4% 3% 2%6% 5%6%

9% 6%

15%18%

23% 24%

50%

56% 58%

70%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

19

97

19

98

19

99

20

00

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

20

12

20

13

20

14

20

15

20

16

20

17

20

18

20

19

20

20

20

21

20

22

VRT fertilizer application

VRT Fertilizer, single nutrient

VRT Fertilizer, multiple nutrient

VRT lime application

VRT pesticide application

VRT seeding prescriptions

Farmer Adoption Estimated by Retailers in their Market

• % acres in the retailer’s market area, not % farmers

• GPS guidance becoming standard

• For yield monitor data always a question of use

10

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

20

00

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

20

12

20

13

20

14

20

15

20

16

20

17

20

18

20

19

20

20

Satellite or aerial imagery

UAV or drone imagery

Grid or zone soil sampling

Soil EC mapping

Chlorophyll/greenness sensors for N management

Guidance/autosteer

Yield Monitor

Farmer VRT Adoption Estimated by Retailers

• % acres, not % farmers, in the retailer’s market area

• Substantially higher estimates than USDA and other sources

• VRT seeding and pesticides lag

11

38% 39%

8%

7%

9% 11%13% 15%15%

19% 22%

27% 26% 27% 31%

5%

6% 7% 8%10% 10%

13%16% 18%

22%24%

32%

8% 9%11%

15%16%

18% 16%

22%24%

33% 33%31%

41% 40% 41%

2% 3%

4%5% 6%8% 7%

10%9%

10%13% 13% 14%

3%

8%

2% 2% 4%3% 3% 4% 5%

7%9% 10%

13%

19%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

20

00

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

20

12

20

13

20

14

20

15

20

16

20

17

20

18

20

19

20

20

VRT nutrient application

VRT single nutrientapplicationVRT multiple nutrientapplicationVRT lime application

VRT pesticide application

VRT seeding

12

Precision Agriculture Timeline

• First InfoAg?

• Impact plate grain yield monitor?

• Autoguidance?

13

Precision Agriculture Timeline

14

USDA Data: Acres with Autoguidancein U.S.

USDA Data: Acres Using Any VRT in U.S.

Big Uptick in Data for Decisions

17

18%

17%

29%

31%

20%

55%

23%

25%

33%

37%

39%

44%

34%

39%

40%

30%

42%

45%

38%

37%

32%

29%

28%

22%

32%

11%

30%

27%

27%

25%

11%

10%

9%

8%

7%

5%

4%

3%

3%

2%

0% 50% 100%

P and K decisions

Nitrogen decisions

Liming decisions

Variable hybrid or variety…

Overall hybrid or variety selection

Irrigation decisions

Pesticide selection (herbicides,…

Overall crop planting rates

Variable seeding rate prescriptions

Cropping sequence/rotation…

% of respondents

1%

4%

3%

2%

4%

8%

7%

6%

7%

13%

19%

19%

35%

20%

19%

35%

36%

39%

41%

66%

39%

45%

26%

47%

45%

41%

39%

36%

41%

19%

41%

36%

36%

32%

31%

31%

19%

19%

12%

2%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

P and K decisions

Overall hybrid or variety…

Liming decisions

Nitrogen decisions

Overall crop planting rates

Variable hybrid or variety…

Variable seeding rate…

Pesticide selection…

Cropping sequence/rotation…

Irrigation decisions

% of respondents

2017 2019

Nutrient Mgmt. and Hybrid/Variety Selection Dominate Decisions Based on Farm Data

• 61% of retailers manage and/or archive yield, soil test and other data for farmers.

• 22% pool that data within their customer base.

• 11% pool that data beyond their customers

• Only 8% of retailers do not help customers with farm data

18

1%

4%

3%

2%

4%

8%

7%

6%

7%

13%

19%

19%

35%

20%

19%

35%

36%

39%

41%

66%

39%

45%

26%

47%

45%

41%

39%

36%

41%

19%

41%

36%

36%

32%

31%

31%

19%

19%

12%

2%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

P and K decisions

Overall hybrid or variety selection

Liming decisions

Nitrogen decisions

Overall crop planting rates

Variable hybrid or variety placement…

Variable seeding rate prescriptions

Pesticide selection (herbicides,…

Cropping sequence/rotation decisions

Irrigation decisions

% of respondents

No answer No influence Some influence Major influence on decision

Profitability of Offerings• % of Retailers

• VRT fertilizer related services usually profitable

• Sensing services (e.g. UAV, satellite/aerial imagery, soil EC, chlorophyll sensors) less profitable

5%

4%

5%

16%

7%

18%

9%

19%

8%

11%

8%

20%

31%

16%

14%

17%

54%

12%

25%

39%

16%

3%

4%

6%

6%

4%

11%

13%

11%

18%

9%

22%

15%

12%

21%

30%

23%

15%

30%

25%

22%

48%

23%

29%

27%

16%

32%

15%

31%

25%

31%

39%

30%

26%

19%

35%

31%

38%

8%

39%

37%

26%

24%

69%

63%

63%

62%

58%

56%

47%

44%

43%

41%

40%

39%

38%

27%

25%

23%

23%

19%

13%

13%

12%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

VRT fertilizer appl

Grid or zone soil sampling

VRT fertilizer or lime presc

Precision planter equip sales

VRT lime appl

Telematics equip sales

Guidance/autosteer sales and…

VRT pesticide appl

Grid or zone Plant Tissue Sampling

Soil EC mapping

VRT seeding presc

Yield monitor sales/support

Chlorophyll/greenness sensors

Field mapping (with GIS)

Yield monitor and other data…

Profit/cost mapping

VRT irrigation prescriptions

Satellite/aerial imagery

Electronics Records/Mapping for…

Wired or Wireless Sensor Networks

UAV

% of respondents who offer the service

Don't know Not breaking even Breaking even Making a profit

Dealer Barriers to Adoption

20

47%49% 49%

44%

50%47%

62% 63%

22%19%

23%19% 18%

20%24%

29%

46%

37%

28%

38%

29%31% 31%

44%

65%62%

54% 54%

45%

56%

50%

72%

29%33%

28%32%

27%29% 28%

30%

35%

45%49%

41%

35%

41% 41%

50%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

2004 2008 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts t

hat

Agr

eed

or

Stro

ngl

y A

gree

d

It is difficult to find employeeswho can deliver precisionagricultural services

Lack of manufacturer support forprecision services limits our abilityto provide such services

Creating a precision program thatadds significantly more value forthe grower than a traditional

The equipment needed to provideprecision services changesquickly, increasing my costs

The equipment required todeliver precision services is toocomplex for many of myemployees to useIncompatibilities across types ofprecision equipment andtechnology (different dataformats, inability to share

CropLife-Purdue Survey Summary:

• GPS guidance technologies have been adopted rapidly by retailers

• Information-intensive technologies more complicated, adoption is slower but increasing

• Most ag retailers offering farm data management & archiving

• Big increase in use of data to make decisions

• Creating a profitable data driven ag input supply business remains a challenge for retailers

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E-Learning Academy

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