Herd management software adoption in dairy farming in İzmir, Türkiye: the interplay of attitudes, willingness to use, and farmer heterogeneity
Makaleler > Tam Makale · 2026
Yazarlar: Duran GÜLER
COGENT FOOD & AGRICULTURE, SCI Expanded İndekslerine Giren Dergi, Uluslararası, Wos, 2026, cilt 12, ss 1-17
DOI: 10.1080/23311932.2026.2706214
Özet
<p>This study aimed to analyze dairy cattle farmers’ attitudes toward the use of herdmanagement software and their willingness to pay for such technologies. Primary datawere collected through face-to-face surveys with 166 dairy cattle farmers in İzmir,Türkiye. In the study, factor analysis revealed two underlying dimensions of dairyfarmers’ attitudes toward herd management software: self-efficacy and perceivedusefulness. Subsequently, cluster analysis was applied to group farmers based on thesedimensions, yielding three distinct segments: low-adoption-oriented farmers, confidentadopters, and constrained potential adopters. The findings showed that farmers in theconfident adopters segment were younger, had higher education levels, and hadshorter general agricultural and dairy farming experience. however, these farmers weremost willing to pay the maximum annual amount for herd management software.additionally, farmers engaged in non-agricultural employment, those whose childrenwere not involved in dairy farming, those employing hired labor, and those who keptfarm records were significantly more willing to use herd management software. Thesefindings demonstrate that both farmer attitudes and socio-economic characteristicsplay a decisive role in the adoption of herd management software. The study providesimportant implications for designing targeted agricultural digitalization policies andextension strategies that account for farmer heterogeneity.</p>