Date of Award
12-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Plant and Environmental Science
Committee Chair/Advisor
Aaron Turner
Committee Member
Dave Lamie
Committee Member
Kendall Kirk
Abstract
We need to know more about farmers’ relationships to tools that can help them, including Precision Agriculture (PA) tech from within the field, human service providers (SPs), and social media (SM). To evaluate these relationships, three research projects were conducted. Two were surveys focusing on perceptions - one was on technology and the other was on social media. The technology survey was on vegetable growers and aimed to understand how open and interested they were in PA, which are agricultural technologies that use data to make life easier. They could monitor soil or weather, steer vehicles, limit water, and more – improving yield and increasing profit. By knowing what vegetable growers value and what influences adoption, we can help guide growers to adopt useful and relevant technologies which can improve their lives. The respondents had a nuanced but generally positive view of PA; they believed PA to have benefits like yield improvement but agreed that cost is too high and stated that having detailed budget information would have the greatest influence on their decision to adopt. The social media survey was for people in the agriculture industry, and sought to discover whether people and organizations used, trusted, and/or preferred social media and other online modes of communication. That survey also asked about how respondents perceived social media, both generally and specifically as a marketing tool. Little is known about these perceptions of social media within U.S. farmers, so any insights would be useful. 84% of respondents and 77% of their organizations used social media, with respondents using between 3 and 4 apps and organizations using 1 to 2 apps. The most used apps were Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. They believed that SM was an effective marketing iii and stated that they would like to know more about SM marketing. They preferred person-to-person modes of receiving information and were far more trusting of academia and peers than online sources. The other research project was a qualitative study of agricultural service providers (SPs), who are hired to help growers. They answer questions, provide research, and guide growers in decision-making. The interviews were analyzed to explore how SPs support growers, and the skills required to perform their jobs. SPs thought of their job as being a connector, connecting growers to needed informational resources. These resources can be anything from written resources to other knowledgeable people within the industry. They also described “translating” information, taking academic or market information and making it understandable to growers. To connect and translate, good SPs must have knowledge of the available resources, strong written and verbal communication skills, as well as a developed social network of industry professionals. Additionally, a Do-It-Yourself guide to SM marketing is included, providing a resource that the SM survey’s results indicated would be helpful. The guide includes explanations of how SM apps work and tips for online branding and maximizing reach on social media.
Recommended Citation
Wayt, Virginia, "Tools Of The Trade: Exploring Precision Agriculture, Social Media, And Support Services In Modern Farming" (2025). All Theses. 4782.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_theses/4782
changed the date on title page