Mobile phone usage by farmers
The results from a recent Poll of farmers, conducted by the National Farm Research Unit (NFRU), indicate that 94% of all farmers interviewed had a mobile phone and that 19% had Internet access via this phone. Arable farmers interviewed appeared to have adopted mobile phone technology to a greater extent with 97% saying they had a mobile and 27% using a mobile phone with Internet access. Fewer sheep farmers had Internet access via their mobile, just 11%, compared with beef farmers (13%) and dairy farmers (15%), says Jim Williams of the NFRU. This perhaps reflects the more isolated location of many livestock farms rather than arable farms.
|
Enterprise type |
% farmers who had a mobile phone | % of farmers who had Internet access via mobile phone |
| All farmers | 94% | 19% |
| Arable farmers | 97% | 27% |
| Dairy farmers | 91% | 15% |
| Beef farmers | 91% | 13% |
| Sheep farmers | 88% | 11% |
The most popular type of mobile phone used by farmers in this survey was Nokia, which was easily the most frequently selected phone type for all enterprises. The Apple iPhone was the second most popular with arable farmers (18%) and dairy farmers (13%), closely followed by Blackberry. For beef farmers the second most popular mobile was Samsung and for sheep farmers Blackberry. Android systems and HTC mobiles appeared to be less popular with farmers in this survey.
|
Enterprise type |
% with an Android |
% with an Apple iPhone |
% with a Blackberry |
% with a HTC |
% with a Nokia |
% with a Samsung |
% with a Sony Ericsson |
|
Arable farmers |
1% |
18% |
17% |
5% |
26% |
8% |
3% |
|
Dairy farmers |
1% |
13% |
13% |
3% |
29% |
11% |
4% |
|
Beef farmers |
0% |
11% |
11% |
2% |
30% |
14% |
3% |
|
Sheep farmers |
0% |
7% |
17% |
3% |
37% |
16% |
6% |
The survey also asked farmers in addition to calls and texts what else they used their mobile for? The top answer given for all enterprise types was accessing the Internet, followed by sending and receiving emails, says Jim Williams.
The survey indicated that it was arable farmers who were mostly using mobile technology for a wider number of activities, with 44% of arable farmers saying that they used their mobiles for accessing the Internet and a further 42% saying they used it for emailing in addition to calls and texts. This group also used their phones more for Apps (8%), but few, as yet, were using social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter on their mobiles. This doesnt mean to say that more werent using social networking on their computer, however. reports Jim.
|
Enterprise type |
% farmers who use mobile phone for the Internet | % who use mobile for emails | % who use mobile for Apps | % who use mobile for social networking |
| Arable farmers | 44% | 42% | 8% | 2% |
| Dairy farmers | 25% | 18% | 4% | 2% |
| Beef farmers | 27% | 18% | 3% | 3% |
| Sheep farmers | 22% | 19% | 1% | 3% |
We also looked at profiling the farmers who participated and the average number of years they have been farming was 37 years for the arable sector and 40 years for the sheep sector.
This is probably the widest farmer survey on mobile technology ever done in the UK, involving 1952 arable farmers, 3096 dairy farmers, 2477 beef farmers and 933 sheep farmers throughout the UK. In my view, because of the large sample size and the random sampling, it more accurately reflects what farmers are really doing with this technology and indicates where new developments, technology and applications should focus on in the future, says Jim Williams.
For further information please contact:
-
Jim Williams, Marketing and Communications Director of Precision Prospecting on 01728 622500 or by email at
- To see more about the NFRU, please see the web site at http://www.nfru.co.uk
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is a full service, applied market research unit, based in Framingham, Suffolk. The NFRU conducts research projects in all agriculture, livestock, food and many other business-to-business sectors and contacts 40,000 farmers, vets, merchants and consumers per year on a rolling basis in the UK, Ireland and internationally. It has a unique targeted database of contacts and a highly skilled and experienced interviewing team, asking questions about current practices and attitudes. It is involved in ad hoc surveys and syndicated surveys for a wide range of clients.
The National Farm Research Unit
. Established in 1993, Precision Prospecting is a Research Driven Marketing company, specialising in agriculture, animals and food. It has brought together the disciplines of pure market research, product management, marketing and sales in order to help R & D manufacturers deliver practical marketing to drive sales. It has offices in Framingham, Suffolk.
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