Computer Use and Satisfaction by Great Plains Producers

Abstract

Agronomists rely increasingly on computers, and more than half of all producers have access to computers. Increasing farm computer ownership has resulted in intensified efforts to transfer new software technologies to producers; however, little is known about how satisfied producers are with computers and the extent to which computers are actually used. We extended our 1996 survey of Great Plains producers to examine producer computer use and satisfaction and discuss potential implications for agricultural software developers. Building on our earlier computer adoption research, we developed ordered logit models for user satisfaction, frequency of computer use, and number of software applications used. Despite using more robust ordered logit models that fit the data well, surprisingly few explanatory variables were significant. Greater computer skill significantly increased user satisfaction and number of software applications used. Greater education also increased user satisfaction and number of software applications used but reduced frequency of computer use. Farming experience showed similar conflicting results as education, i.e., greater number of years farming resulted in significantly increased computer satisfaction but lower frequency of use and number of software applications used. A few other explanatory variables (e.g., farm owner or operator as the primary computer user had a significant positive influence on frequency of use) were important in one of the three ordered logit models, but no consistent relationship between models was found. Generally, greater frequency of use and computer skill increased perceived usefulness of computers by producers. Implications of these results for agricultural software developers are discussed in the paper.