Improving DSS take up

The next set of questions tried to find out what the participants felt could be done to improve the take up of decision support systems in the UK.

2.5.1 What do you think needs to be done to improve the usage of DSS in agriculture?

There were a range of answers to this question and many participants suggested more than one approach to improving uptake. The most frequently cited ideas were to provide more of a reason and benefit for using the systems, providing more evidence that the systems work and building up trust, providing more useful functions (which again relates to perceived benefit), increased legislative pressure, simplifying the systems and integrating them with each other and with crop management systems. A variety of other issues were outlined by individual participants. All comments are detailed below.

Provide more of an incentive – more of a reason and benefit to using DSS over existing methods

• Needs a real incentive to use the software. Was keen to get involved with the trials but hasn’t used it much. He has limited time. Currently uses Farmade for crop recommendations, it is easier for him just to write it out on paper, he just uses it as it is in a better format and easier to read by the client and is what the client expects. (1)

• If there is clear evidence of financial benefit. Dutch guy she knows uses one for potato blight, used it because it saved him money (6)

• It has to make your life easier. (8)

• What has to be shown is the value of them. The value to the advisor and the farmer. Is the decision they make a better one because they have it. (10)

• It has to help you in your day to day job a great deal. Give you access to a lot of information. (14)

More useful functions

• Systems that prompt you to look at things. Say Monday morning have it say to the farmer have you calculated nitrogen levels? walked fields etc, system should tell him what he has to do and when he has to do it. E.g.walk field looking for cleavers today. (2)

• You could send messages by mobile phone but he wants negative messages as well as positive. He wants to know if he doesn’t have to spray as well as when he does. (2)

• Prompts and reminders should come from the software automatically, you shouldn’t have to go into DESSAC, it should appear when you first switch your computer on. (2)

• You could photograph patches of weeds/disease in your crop using a digital camera and get the photo analysed to estimate cover etc of weeds and diseases in your crop, this could be done as digital cameras are getting cheaper.(3)

• If it helps with sequencing and following crops.

• Have a way of formalising the experiences of other people in similar or dissimilar situations. If he found one year something worked that could be formulised and sent to other people, it would be good to incorporate that. Tends to do that in discussions at the moment. (9) • Try to bring local knowledge in. Make it interactive with users. Have feedback at 2 or 3

points in the season. (9)

More evidence that works/build up trust

• WMSS has to have a real benefit for him to use it. It needs more trial results to prove that by using it you get better results. He would use it if he felt that he was losing out and giving poor

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• Has to be robust. Model has to be robust or people would not use it. Trial data may not help. You would need some form of validation data, you could get a farmer to use it and see what happens, but that farmer may be a terrible farmer. So you could say if you are a useless farmer this will help you (3)

• Validation data would help a lot. (4)

• Easier if you have a big company or a progressive farmer uses it first to prove it works. Her impression is other countries use DSS more than we do; the farmers are more prepared to accept them. Reliability has to be proved. (6)

• Build up confidence in the product. Someone like the tag group to trial it to make sure it worked for a year. (7)

• Proven track record would help. (8)

• Build up trust of the system. Have farmer’s trial it (9)

• Have to be persuaded it will make you make better decisions. To do this roll it out and get farmers and advisors to use it. (10)

• High proportion of agronomists are still sceptical. Many think its no good, I have 30 years experience how can it be better than me. (12)

Legislation/environment

• Legislative requirement. Have an environmental link in it. It has to be demonstrated that you can benefit from using it (3)

• Legislative reasons would work. (10)

• Biggest driving factor would be public pressure and legislation. Or to qualify for environmental pay out. (14)

Make it easier to use

• Appealing to people who are into computing, feels he would need more training to get to grips with it. (1)

• The things he liked most about WMSS were the things that were easiest to use such as the encyclopaedia. That’s the key issue. (4)

• Make them work and keep them simple, they have to be kept simple. If you want to get people using it. (15)

• A lot of farmers are computer phobic. They should be easy and simple to use to combat this. A bit like spoon feeding. Simplicity is key. (17)

Integrate data across systems

• Systems which need less input and run off existing info. He now uses planet for RB209, it calculates nitrogen and everything has to be added manually in this system again so he has to add all field data in this system the same as he did in WMSS and WDM (2)

• Integrating them with other arable software so you don’t have to duplicate data. (5)

• One of the reasons he wouldn’t use it at the moment is that he would have to duplicate the data. Make it so it can be down loaded from an existing program. If somehow you could incorporate it into the major commercial programs like Farmade or Farmplan. Could you make it an add on module. (16)

Wider applicability

• If you were able to use them across the board on all the crops you use. Too specialised at the moment. Too much bearing on wheat. Wheat is only 30-40% of his crops and it is easy to grow anyway. (5)

Provide more publicity and awareness raising/marketing

• He would rather be approached and introduced to a DSS than have to go out and look for them himself. The only other one he has heard of is N-sure? for nitrogen and WDM. Hasn’t looked for n-sure as he is too lazy to go look for it even though he thought it was good when he first seen it a couple of years ago. (4)

• Something to get groups together and talking about it would be good. Go to Agronomy groups and such like to get people interacting as the audience. E.g. farmer discussion groups. (10)

• Publicity. More people who know about them the more you will have showing an interest. Most farmers are computer literate now and would like this software. They have to be made aware these programs exist. (11)

• Take it out to agronomy groups like AICC and show them what it can do, break it in gently. He has sat down and shown and explained it to a sceptical colleague and it changed his mind so you have to spend time with them. What I am doing at the moment is important or even as a 10 minute call to make sure everyone is comfortable using it. (12)

• Publicise them and train people to use them. Make sure people know they exist and are aware of their full potential (14)

• Word of mouth spreads fast. A lot of people go too him for advice at the moment and he wouldn’t recommend it to anyone at the moment. He just wouldn’t use it in its current state. (16)

Make it cheaper or free

• Give it away free. (14)

Keep it up to date

• Linked to the internet so that manufacturers updates happen all the time, almost real time. You have to be confident it’s as up to date as it can be. (5)

Localisation

• Need to increase reliability and diversity, every farm and field are different. A lot of farmers he knows get disheartened as they think it doesn’t know their farm. You need 2 levels where you get the basic recommendation then another one where you can fine tune. You have to remember there are lots of different ways of doing it. (14)

Misc

• It’s a limited market. A lot of farmers are not interested as agronomists do it for them. (5) • Your going to have to use them as it is so complicated now. (8)

• It will only get used at the beginning of the season. Don’t think you’ll be able to roll it out through the season. You maybe could with nitrogen and disease, with weeds you know at the start of the season so you can work a program out at the start. Time is a problem again. Scenarios at the start of season when you have time, is what you use it for. (10)

• A lot more time to be able to use them. (11)

• Doesn’t think these things will ever save him time, they are only an additional think to help you. (14)

• Has to be stable (14)

2.5.2 What factors do you think contribute to the low usage of DSS in agriculture at the moment?

Respondents were also asked what they thought was contributing to the current low usage of DSS to give a different perspective on the usage question. Interestingly the answers did differ slightly from the previous question, although again there were a wide range of answers. Some of the most frequently cited reasons for the lack of use so far were: lack of publicity/awareness of DSS; lack of confidence/trust in the results; and system complexity. Other suggested causes were: lack of obvious benefits; lack of up to date information; low computer literacy in users; lack of willingness to try new things; low computer specification in industry; lack of training and support; lack of time and resources; perception that agronomists do the same job only better; and a lack of system integration.

People aren’t aware that they’re available

• They are not out yet. DSS are rather a growing thing. He wasn’t aware there were any out there for wide usage. (3)

• People are not aware of what is out there; People have to be made aware of what is there. (4) • Haven’t been fully developed. (6)

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