Adoption of precision farming in Denmark

The adoption of precision farming (PF) in Denmark has been studied through two mail surveys, personal interviews and focus groups with farmers and other stakeholders. Farmers are in general optimistic about PF but it is difficult to verify the economic and environmental gains. It has been difficult to demonstrate continuous yield improvements from VRT applications. The cost of gathering information, time consumption and incompatibility are barriers to adoption. Given the uncertainty due to temporal variability, real time canopy management with N-sensors and weed detection is suggested as the way to gather information and thereby conduct variable applications of nutrients and chemicals. Focus should also be put on environmental effects, logistics, bale handling and field planning.