Developing a Farmer-Centered Framework for Assessing Adoption Readiness of Digital Agricultural Technologies: Validation with German Farmers

Developing a Farmer-Centered Framework for Assessing Adoption Readiness of Digital Agricultural Technologies: Validation with German Farmers | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Developing a Farmer-Centered Framework for Assessing Adoption Readiness of Digital Agricultural Technologies: Validation with German Farmers Marius Michels, Lena Isenberg This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7886805/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract As agriculture undergoes digital transformation, farmers face the challenge of evaluating an expanding array of technologies for operational integration. This study addresses this challenge by developing and validating a farmer-centered adoption readiness framework, which extends technological maturity assessment by embedding legal, social, and organizational dimensions relevant to agricultural technology adoption. As an exploratory case study, we applied the framework to German arable farming. In autumn 2024, we conducted interviews with 20 German farmers, who evaluated five key technology groups using seven assessment criteria, followed by a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) of the framework itself. Results revealed distinct adoption readiness patterns: Controlled Traffic Farming (CTF) technologies demonstrated highest scores across criteria and required minimal operational disruption, followed closely by Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS), Variable Rate Technologies (VRT), and Recording and Mapping Technologies (RMT). In contrast, Robotic Systems and Smart Machines (RSSM) exhibited substantially lower evaluation scores and necessitated operational restructuring. Qualitative interviews confirmed the framework's utility as a decision support tool while identifying key improvements, particularly the need to incorporate economic assessment criteria. This research contributes a farmer-centered adoption readiness that enables farmers to make informed technology adoption decisions while providing stakeholders with insights for addressing adoption barriers in agricultural digitalization. Agricultural Economics & Policy adoption readiness Germany farmers digital technologies assessment framework SWOT Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Ethic approval was obtained by the German Association for Experimental Economic Research e.V. Prior to data collection, all participants received a brief introduction to the research and its objectives. They were informed about participation conditions and data protection provisions, which required their active consent. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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