Adoption of Computers and Consultant Services by New York Dairy Farmers

Objectives were to show the rate of adoption of computers and consultant services by New York dairy farmers, characterize users and nonusers, and evaluate the impact of selected business characteristics on adoption. Data were from a farm business summary program and an environmental survey of 335 dairy farms. Use of on-farm computers for accounting had been approximately doubling each year, from 1.4% of the farms in 1983 to 8.7% in 1986. Fifteen percent of the farm managers owned computers in 1986. Sixty-two percent of the farms received monthly or biweekly veterinarian visits. A variety of consultant services were also used. Computer owners and users of biweekly veterinarian visits were younger and better educated with larger and higher producing herds and primarily freestall housing systems. Logistic regression showed that operator education influenced computer ownership and use for accounting purposes. Operator age was more important in predicting veterinarian use. Herd size explained veterinarian use and computer use for accounting but not computer ownership. Production, debt per cow, housing type, and business organization were other independent variables included in the analysis. Consultant use could not be explained by the business characteristics considered.