Analysis of Livestock Industry App Technology Development and Adoption for Farmer Extension and Decision-Making

Abstract

<p>Mobile applications (apps) can be of great benefit to the way farmers record and access information, make more informed decisions, combine with other precision agriculture technologies, and play an important role in the delivery of farmer extension. There is little peerreviewed empirical information on Australian or international farmers' adoption and use of agricultural apps. Despite their widespread use, the literature also suggests that farmers have lower uptake of mobile device and app use than the general population.</p> <p>The first objective of this thesis was to review the current technology adoption and extension models and assess their relevance for the adoption of app technology for the livestock industry, particularly the sheep sector. The next objective was to establish the levels of technology adoption of smartphones and agricultural app use for Australian livestock farmers and what farm or farmer characteristics influence adoption. The next task was to assess the motivations or incentives for farmers to adopt agricultural apps in their farm businesses and finally evaluate the attitude of farmers towards the role of apps in extension and on-farm decision-making. Overall, the research project aimed to identify factors of importance to farmers that influence their decision-making processes for agricultural app uptake through directly asking farmers. Another aim was to identify factors and processes important to developing agricultural apps that underpin successful adoption. These results can form the basis of a development framework to guide the creation of agricultural apps targeting farmers as their end-users.</p> <p>This study uses a mixed-methods research methodology. Online quantitative surveys were conducted to establish smartphone ownership and agricultural app use levels and evaluate farmer attitudes towards the role of apps in farmer extension and decision-making. The study also identifies factors of importance to livestock farmers and other factors influencing app adoption. I held semi-structured key informant qualitative interviews with app development team members from industry research and development (R&D) and private sector organisations. Analysis of the interviews identified key success factors for app adoption.</p> <p>An initial online survey (Survey 1) was completed by 392 respondents, including app users and non-app users, where 79% were sheep farmers. Subsequent surveys (Surveys 2–4) were completed by a total of 150 respondents, targeting the users of three Australian agricultural apps—RamSelect, Lifetime Ewe Management and Good Bulls—where 84.7% of respondents were farmers (sheep and dairy). Survey respondents generally had high smartphone and tablet ownership levels of between 91.9% and 97.9%. Mobile app use was also high among survey participants, with 83.4% for Survey 1 and 90.8% for Surveys 2–4. However, significantly lower rates of agricultural app use suggest either a lack of relevant, useful and easy to use apps for agriculture or an issue with the value proposition for app adoption.</p> <p>Survey 1 found that farmer age, use of advisers and farmer network participation significantly influenced farmer app adoption. However, when asked, farmers ranked networks and advisers of low influence when deciding to use an agricultural app. Older age brackets had lower levels of app adoption, but the level of adoption was still relatively high. Thus, age should not be viewed as a barrier to adoption or overlooked in R&D and marketing. Developers and marketers of agricultural apps should also be wary of how they use farm advisers and farmer networks in their adoption plans. Although there was a positive relationship with higher levels of adoption, it may not be for previously thought reasons.</p> <p>All surveys revealed a strong positive farmer attitude towards using apps in farmer extension. The vast majority of participants see apps replacing some traditional extension methods or that apps would be useful tools to incorporate into programs. Participants demonstrated a similar positive attitude for the role of apps in on-farm decision-making. The combined response signifies a strong positive attitude to using apps in the livestock industry.</p> <p>Participants were asked to rank the importance of app attributes and reasons for app use. Participants identified usefulness, ease-of-use and a better way of doing something already done as the most important app attributes. Survey participants highlighted that making more informed decisions, increasing efficiency, accessing and recording important information and saving time were the most important reasons for agricultural app use. The top reason for not using an agricultural app was apps taking too long to set up and learn how to use.</p> <p>The interviewing of agricultural app development teams helped identify key factors within the app development process that led to apps being more likely to achieve successful adoption. These factors include beginning the process with a verified end-user 'pain point', validating the app solution, clearly defining the app value proposition, having end-users engaged throughout the whole development process and implementing advanced systems to utilise feedback to enable customer success continual product improvements. Furthermore, some areas of R&D organisation product development and funding models hinder the success of app adoption that had a commercialisation goal.</p> <p>This study contributes to the literature by establishing both levels of technology adoption of agricultural apps and key determinants of app adoption in the Australian livestock industry. While the study was conducted in Australia, there is limited peer-reviewed information on agricultural app adoption more broadly. This study adds value to the small number of existing international studies. The study considers farm and farmer characteristics that influence agricultural app adoption and uniquely identifies what motivates and influences farmers to adopt from a farmer perspective, as well as their attitudes towards the role of apps in farmer extension and on-farm decision-making.</p> <p>While many aspects of existing DST adoption frameworks and established technology adoption models are still relevant to adopting agricultural apps, no single model or framework effectively encapsulates the factors and processes needed, or the new app-specific findings reported in this study. On this basis, a framework is proposed based on the research conducted, identifying why farmers use agricultural apps, factors that influence app adoption, and the factors and processes within app development that lead to apps being more successful in the marketplace. The agricultural app adoption framework is intended for app developers and providers, with farmers as their target users, particularly livestock producers, to reach greater levels of adoption success. The framework can also inform funders, extension agents and policymakers on the crucial elements to be considered in developing successful apps for farmers.</p> <p>This study also highlights areas for further investigation, such as the need to better understand the relationship between farmer network participation and adviser use with higher levels of technology adoption and how best to incorporate apps into new and existing farmer extension programs. There is also potential for using other product development and funding models within R&D organisations to improve commercialisation success and higher levels of app adoption.</p>