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A Comprehensive Assessment of the Role of Risk in U.S. Agriculture pp 417–442Cite as

Precision Farming Technology and Risk Management

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Part of the book series: Natural Resource Management and Policy ((NRMP,volume 23))

Abstract

Farm fields have numerous areas that differ from one another with respect to soil type, topography, microclimate, and other factors that influence crop yields. Crop response to a particular input may differ across these areas within a field. Furthermore, differences in inherent soil properties across a field may result in non-uniform temporal variation in yield response to stochastic events such as weather, disease, insect pressure, and weed pressure. Thus, spatial variation in temporal production risk could occur as stochastic temporal yield-limiting factors interact with inherent yield-limiting soil properties (Nielsen 2001). With the availability of so-called “precision farming” technologies (also referred to as variable-rate, prescription, site-specific, or soil-specific farming), the cost of gathering information about within-field variability has decreased, making it possible for farmers to consider using site-specific management practices in crop production (Lowenberg-DeBoer and Swinton 1997). Farmers can now gather information about variation in yield-limiting soil properties within a farm field to make management choices about applying crop inputs using variable rate technology. Thus, the potential for precision farming as a risk management tool is in allowing farmers to gather more and better information and gaining increased control over production (Lowenberg-DeBoer 1999).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA

    James A. Larson, Burton C. English & Roland K. Roberts

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  1. James A. Larson
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  2. Burton C. English
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  3. Roland K. Roberts
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Maryland, College Park, USA

    Richard E. Just

  2. Brigham Young University, USA

    Rulon D. Pope

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© 2002 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Larson, J.A., English, B.C., Roberts, R.K. (2002). Precision Farming Technology and Risk Management. In: Just, R.E., Pope, R.D. (eds) A Comprehensive Assessment of the Role of Risk in U.S. Agriculture. Natural Resource Management and Policy, vol 23. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3583-3_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3583-3_19

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