Precision Ag Use on the Rise With More U.S. Fruit Growers
More growers continue to adopt precision agriculture tools, according to American Fruit Grower® and Western Fruit Grower® magazines’ 2021 State of the Industry survey. In last year’s survey, 56% of growers reported using precision agriculture tools — from arrays of sensors all the way down to smartphone apps — but that number has climbed to 62% in this year’s survey.
“To be competitive in this industry, you need to have as much information as possible available to your operation to make critical decisions,” says one grower. “Cutting inputs can only be done if you measure and know what you have. Precision technologies help us to fill knowledge gaps.”
Perhaps no grower sums up the situation so comprehensively. Others are pithier: “Cost of not using,” says one. “Just to have a good product to sell,” says another. “It helps to do a better job,” states another simply. Or this enthusiastic grower: “Knowledge is power. I know something my competitor doesn’t — I am stronger!”
Some growers remain dubious about the technology, although perhaps reflecting the increasing usage, there are far fewer negative comments this year from growers. Here’s a representative comment from one such grower: “The costs of implementing new technologies is a high hurdle. It is very expensive to employ the new technologies, and it takes time to get the returns on the investment.”
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