Farms.com Home   News

Stu Ellis: Agriculture Is Still A Long Way From Being "Computerized."

Aug 17, 2011

You are reading this on your computer, but your neighbor may not know anything about it, since he does not have a computer or does not have Internet access.  In a time when computers are about as pervasive as pick-up trucks, there are still one-third of farms which do not have a computer, and even if a farm does have a computer, barely one-third uses it for farm business and some are not connected to the Internet.  Let’s take a look at the state of technology in the farm office.

USDA's National Ag Statistics Service has just released its annual update on farm computer use and says progress is slowly being made in adding computers to farms and getting them connected to the Internet.

For farms with $250,000 or more in commodity sales, 84% have access to a computer, 72% use it in their farm business and 82% have it connected to the Internet.  But when gross sales revenue drops off, so does computer access and use.  Farms in the $10,000 to $100,000 category report 63% have a computer, and 60% have an Internet connection, but only 41% use their computer for farm business purposes.

The USDA’s 2011 survey found two out of three crop farms with a computer and 41% using it for business, just a nudge up from last year.  63% of livestock farms have a computer with 61% connected to the Internet. In the Cornbelt, computer access on farms ranged from 57% in Missouri to 73% in Michigan and Wisconsin. Cornbelt farms using their computer for farm business ranged from 33% in Missouri to 52% in Iowa and Nebraska.

If those Cornbelt farms were using their computer and Internet connection for business, what type of business was that?  Buying inputs ranged from 10% in Indiana to 17% in Wisconsin. Conducting marketing activities over the Internet ranged from 9% in Indiana to 25% in Iowa. If USDA wanted farmers to utilize its services over the Internet, it may have a long way to go to make that sale. Of farms with computers and Internet—and remember that is only two-thirds—less than 7% of Cornbelt farms are doing that. Many more will conduct other types of business over the Internet, ranging from 25% in Missouri to 44% in Illinois.

It is no surprise that larger Cornbelt farms were using their computer to either buy inputs or conduct any marketing activities.  But some may be surprised that among farms with over a quarter million in commodity sales, only 25% are buying inputs and only 33% are involved in Internet marketing activities, which includes direct sales of commodities, on-line crop and livestock auctions, and on-line market advisory services. And even larger farms have not jumped at the chance to utilize FSA program sign up over the Internet, with only 12% of the largest farms doing that. But 50% of those largest Cornbelt farms will conduct business with a non-agricultural site.

Those Internet connections are composed of a variety of ways. 38% of connections are DSL. Dialup connections dropped from 23% in 2009 to 12% in 2011. Satellite was 15% and Wireless was 20%. Cable connected 11% of farms in 2011.

Summary:

While technology abounds on Cornbelt farms with smart phones, auto steer in tractors, remote grain bin monitoring and many other high tech connections, there is a significant percentage of farms which are operating without the basic computer.  One out of three farms does not have a computer, and of those farms with a computer less than half are using it for farm business.  Of those farms with a computer and using it for farm business, less than 25% were doing any type of input purchasing or marketing with it.