摘要：Precision technologies are now well-integrated into the agricultural industry - both at the farm level and at the crop input dealer level. No longer are crop input dealers only using the technologies to bring new services to their customers, they are also utilizing the technology in their own businesses to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their business operations. In early 2006, Crop Life magazine and Purdue University's Center for Food and Agricultural Business conducted a survey for the 11th consecutive year to assess the adoption of precision agriculture practices in the U.S. from the perspective of the retail crop input dealer. The questionnaire was sent to 2500 retail crop input dealerships across the U.S. A total of 368 questionnaires were returned, with 343 being usable providing an effective response rate of 14 percent. Consistent with previous surveys, dealers were asked questions about the types of precision services they offer and/or use in their businesses, the fees they are charging for precision services, how fast their customers are adopting precision agriculture practices, how profitable they are finding precision services to be in their businesses and how their precision customers compare with their 'traditional' customers.
