Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Greenhaw, Laura

Committee Member

Jackson, Gary

Committee Member

Herndon, Bill

Committee Member

Swortzel, Kirk A.

Committee Member

Newman, Michael

Date of Degree

8-10-2018

Document Type

Dissertation - Open Access

Major

Agricultural and Extension Education

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

College

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Department

School of Human Sciences

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to identify socio-economic factors which may influence the adoption of auto-steer technologies by row crop farmers in Mississippi. The variables of geographic location, size of farm, age of the farmer, and educational level of the farmer were analyzed using a binary logistic regression analysis to determine if those variables could be used as predictors in the farmer’s adoption of auto-steer. Analysis revealed that the size of the farm and the age of the farmer are both statistically significant predictors of the probability of a farmer adopting auto-steer in the state of Mississippi. Geographic location and level of education were both included in the model but failed to indicate significant predictive ability. Among farmers who adopted auto-steer respondents ranked the importance of saving time and profitability as the most important and second most important factor in their decision to adopt auto-steer. Future research involving precision agriculture technologies should also include advances in the fields of beef production, forestry, and aquaculture. These can provide helpful insight into the reasons why a producer would adopt a particular precision agriculture technology.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/19919

Comments

auto-steer||innovation||adoption

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