=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-1152/paper9
|storemode=property
|title=ICTs in Irish Agriculture: Can ICTs Improve Communication Between Agribusiness and Farmers?
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1152/paper9.pdf
|volume=Vol-1152
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/haicta/Wims11
}}
==ICTs in Irish Agriculture: Can ICTs Improve Communication Between Agribusiness and Farmers?==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1152/paper9.pdf
ICTs in Irish Agriculture: Can ICTs Improve
Communication Between Agribusiness and Farmers?
Pádraig Wims
School of Agriculture and Food Science,
University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, IRELAND
E-Mail: P.Wims@ucd.ie
Abstract This paper critiques the level of adoption of ICTs among the farming
community in Ireland and compares this with adoption by the general
population. It was found that although computer access and internet use among
Irish households have been increasing rapidly in recent years, farm households
have been lagging behind in adoption of these technologies. Broadband access
has been particularly problematic in rural areas, where farm households are
located.
The development of a novel extranet service by a large agribusiness is
evaluated in this paper; this service allows dairy farmer clients to access all
information relevant to their accounts with this agribusiness through a secure
website. A structured survey of clients was carried out and respondents were
stratified on the basis of their usage of this extranet service. It was found that
three factors are constraining adoption and use of ICTs among Irish farmers:
low levels of computer skills; lack of awareness of the potential of ICTs to
contribute to the farm business and thirdly access to Broadband in rural areas
are fundamental problems that constrain adoption of ICT.
Keywords: ICT adoption; Online services; Broadband penetration; Extranet
services
1 Introduction
Ireland is a small, trade-dependent economy in the extreme West of the European
Union. It experienced rapid economic expansion from 1995 to 2007, when annual
GDP growth averaged 6%, but economic activity dropped sharply in 2008 and Ireland
entered into a recession for the first time in well over a decade with the onset of the
world financial crisis and subsequent severe slowdown in property and construction
markets. Agriculture, once the most important sector of the Irish economy, is now
dwarfed by industry and services. Nonetheless, agriculture remains very important to
the Irish economy; the agri-food sector is one of Ireland’s most important indigenous
industries and is particularly central to the economic and social vitality of rural
communities.
There is increasing acceptance that information and knowledge are central to
socio-economic development. However, there is a perception that rural areas, and
farming families in particular, are lagging behind in adopting and using ICTs. The
objectives of this paper are to critique the level of adoption of ICTs among the
farming community in Ireland and compare this with adoption by the general
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103
population. It also reviews and evaluates the experience of one large agribusiness that
has developed a novel extranet service. This is a dedicated secure site whose main
purpose is to allow farmers have access to all information relevant to their business
with this company. The objective of this research was to explore the effectiveness of
the extranet project in providing information to its farmers and to determine how this
could be improved.
2 Agriculture in the Irish Economy
The agri-food sector in Ireland accounts for over 6% of Gross Value Added, almost
8% of total employment, and 10% of exports (Department of Agriculture, Fisheries
and Food, 2010a). While agriculture is of major importance to economic welfare and
development in Ireland it is particularly central to the economic and social vitality of
rural communities because of the dispersed nature and composition of the agri-food
sector in Ireland.
The land area of Ireland is 6.9 million hectares of which 4.2 million hectares
(60.9%) is used for agriculture and a further 737,000 hectares (10.7%) for forestry
(Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, 2010b). About 80% of the
agricultural area in Ireland is devoted to grassland, 11% to rough grazing (mainly hill
and mountain pastures) and 10% to crop production (ibid). Beef and milk production
currently account for 66% of agricultural output at producer prices (CSO, 2010), both
of these are grassland based farm enterprises. Data from CSO’s Farm Structures
Survey show that in 2007 (the most recent year for which data are available) there
were 128,200 individual farm holdings, with an average farm size of 32.3 hectares
(Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, 2010a).
3 Information and Communication Technology Policy in Ireland
It is now recognised that information and knowledge are at the very heart of socio-
economic development (O’Donnell et al, 2003). ICT and broadband are enabling
tools and infrastructures for accessing, developing, using and sharing information and
knowledge (ibid). A study conducted by Chambers Ireland (2007), involving Irish
businesses, showed that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools and
e-business solutions had become crucial for increasing efficiencies across all sectors
of business in Ireland.
Both the EU and Irish Government policy has focused on promoting adoption and
use of ICT in the home, in education and in the workplace. In March 2000, in Lisbon,
the European Union (EU) set itself the ambitious target of becoming the world's "most
competitive and dynamic knowledge based economy" within ten years (European
Commission, 2007). It recognised that attaining this goal depended on making the
best possible use of ICT. The Lisbon Strategy placed greater emphasis on the
knowledge-based society within existing policy processes and launched the eEurope
2002 Action Plan as a roadmap to modernise the European economy (ibid). The i2010
strategy was launched by the European Commission in June 2005 and is in place until
2010. It builds on the eEurope initiative, which came to an end in 2005 (ibid).
Irish Government policy on ICT was built around two Action Plans. In January
1999, the Government launched the first plan for implementing the information
society in Ireland. This set out a series of initiatives which included development of
104
telecommunications infrastructure which included national availability of broadband,
new legislation and other measures to enable both public and private businesses to
operate on-line and a range of eGovernment initiatives and projects (Government of
Ireland, 1999).
A study by O’Donnell et al (2003) showed there had been significant increases in
levels of engagement with ICT in recent years. The dramatic increase in adoption of
ICT was further supported by the second Action Plan of Government (New
Connections, 2002) which accepted that it was timely to assess how we had
progressed, to review our priorities, and to put in place a new strategic framework to
take the country forward.
The Government Ministry of Agriculture and Food (Department of Agriculture and
Food, 1999) recognised that the country was embracing ICT at a rapid rate and this
had major implications for rural areas in particular. However it did caution that
without the necessary infrastructural investment, rural areas could be disadvantaged.
Since then much emphasis has been placed on engagement with business and the
individual in relation to ICT. However it was recognised from an early stage that
some groups were not engaging with ICT and as a result were being excluded from
the benefits accruing. These included agricultural workers (O’Donnell et al, 2003).
The application of eGovernment to agriculture had the potential to totally transform
the way farmers engage with the Department of Agriculture. The Comptroller and
Auditor General (2008) concluded that:
“There has been mixed progress in eGovernment projects that had a high
transactional objective. There were a number of outstandingly successful projects
including motor tax, ROS, On-line Area Aid, and animal disease eradication.” (p.38)
However, the Department of Agriculture was held up as an example of how
successful eGovernment could be. Today the Department of Agriculture and Food,
together with Teagasc (Irish Agricultural Development Authority, responsible for
research, extension and education) have a number of excellent projects operating
under the eGovernment initiative. These initiatives indicate a very definite
commitment on behalf of the Department of Agriculture and Teagasc to ICT and
eGovernment initiatives.
4 Adoption of ICTs by the Population and by the Farming
Community in Ireland
The adoption of ICT by the Irish population is a multifaceted area made up of a
number of subsections which will be presented and discussed:
· The level of computer availability in Irish households;
· The level of access to the internet;
· The level of broadband penetration; and
· Adoption of ICTs by Irish farmers.
4.1 Level of Computer Availability
When computer access in households was measured during the last three months of
2009 it was found that 75% of Irish households had either a personal computer or a
laptop (Millward Brown IMS, 2010a). However, further analysis revealed that only
53% of farming households had either a personal computer or a laptop indicating that
105
farmers are lagging behind in computer use (ibid). Only the retired and the
unemployed socio-demographic groups lagged behind the farming households, 52%
of these households (i.e. only 1% less than farming households) had either a personal
computer or laptop.
4.2 Level of Access to the Internet
Internet use among the Irish population is increasing rapidly. By mid 2010 some 77%
of the population used the internet on a regular basis and 95% of these did so from
their own homes (Millward Brown IMS, 2010b); this had increased significantly from
58% just two years previously (Millward Brown IMS, 2008). Internet use among
businesses was considerably higher; research (Millward Brown IMS, 2010c) indicated
that internet access among Small and Medium size Enterprises (SMEs, defined as
companies with less than 100 employees) has remained steady at 92%, while
corporate access (i.e. companies employing 100 or more employees) was almost
universal. Millward Brown IMS went on to report that smaller companies (i.e.
employing less than 10 staff) were least likely to have internet access with 84%
connected to the internet. However farming households were among the lowest
internet users at 54% (Millward Brown IMS, 2010b). This was only surpassed by the
oldest age category (52% of the over 65 age group did not have internet access).
These figures indicate, once again, that farming households are not embracing ICT.
Comreg (2010a) reported that there were just under 1.6 million active internet
subscriptions in Ireland at the end of June 2010. This represented a 0.2% increase on
the previous three months and a very significant 8.1% increase on the same period the
previous year. While the total number of subscribers is increasing rapidly the data in
Table 1 show that dial-up internet access is declining rapidly while broadband is
increasing.
Table 1. Total number of active Internet subscriptions in Ireland
Subscription Type Quarter (Q) Quarterly Growth Year-on-Year
2, 2010 Q 1 2010 - Q 2 Growth
Subscriptions 2010 Q 2 2009 - Q 2
2010
Total Narrowband 77,243 -26.5% -56.5%
DSL Broadband 729,892 +0.8% +6.1%
Mobile Broadband 508,620 +3.8% +40.4%
Cable Broadband 173,146 +5.9% +39.3%
Other Broadband 106,691 -4.2% -15.1%
Total Internet 1,595,592 +0.2% +8.1%
Subscriptions
Source: Comreg, 2010a
According to Millward Brown IMS (2010a) the main uses for the internet included
sending and receiving e-mail with nine out of every ten using this application.
Research purposes were also considered important, together with transactional type
activities (banking, shopping, booking tickets, etc). Social networking sites were also
prominent driven by the younger age groups.
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4.3 Level of Broadband Penetration
Broadband subscriptions are increasing at a rapid rate. Comreg (2010a) reported that
by the end of June, 2010, there were 1,518,349 broadband subscriptions in Ireland.
This represented an increase of 16.9% in the number of subscriptions since the
previous year. Mobile broadband represents 33.4% of all broadband subscriptions in
Ireland. Based on these data, the broadband per capita penetration rate at the end of
June 2010 was 34.0% compared with 33.4% in the previous quarter and 29.4% the
previous year. When mobile broadband is excluded, the penetration rate was 22.6%.
The broadband household penetration rate was 63.1% at the end of June, 2010, up
slightly from 62.4% in the previous quarter.
Comreg (2010b) compared broadband penetration rates in Ireland with other EU
countries. It reported that Ireland’s household broadband penetration rate ranked 14 th
among the EU 27 countries and was above the EU27 average of 56.7%. The
Netherlands and Denmark had the highest household broadband penetration rates at
86% and 82% respectively. This situation was confirmed when fixed broadband per
capita penetration rates for EU countries were compared. Comreg (2010b) reported
that Ireland’s broadband penetration at 22.6% placed Ireland below the EU average of
24.8% and again in 14th place in the EU 27.
Amarach Consulting (2007) surveyed subscribers’ attitude to broadband. This
study found that internet users outside of Dublin, the capital city, had far more
problems with the poor service they were getting relative to Dublin both in terms of
availability and competing choice. Meanwhile a national survey conducted by the
Irish Farmers’ Association (Smith, 2008) calculated that 75% of rural households did
not have access to broadband in 2007. It was also stated that infrastructure to provide
broadband to rural areas was totally inadequate (ibid).
4.4 Adoption of ICTs by the Farming Community in Ireland Compared with
Other Countries
There has been a long-standing conviction in Ireland that farmers and farm families
are among the slowest adopters of ICT. Morrow et al (2003) for instance reported
that Irish farm families were falling behind other sectors of Irish society with regard
to home internet access and cited evidence which showed that 21% of farmers had
internet in their homes compared with the national average of 35% at that time. They
also commented that this compared unfavourably with the farming communities of
other developed economies. The author conducted research to measure the level of
computer and internet usage among Irish farmers, to analyse the purpose to which
these were put and to examine the factors which influenced the adoption of ICTs. The
results were compared with the level of adoption among the general population in
Ireland and with farm families in other comparable countries (Wims, 2007). It was
found that a slightly higher proportion of farmers than the general population had
home PCs and internet connections. However, when international comparisons were
made it was found that the Scandinavian countries were forging ahead, with
significantly higher proportions of farmers in Finland, Norway and Sweden having a
home computer and internet access. Other countries with high levels of adoption were
Switzerland, New Zealand, UK and USA (Ross and Waksman, 2004). From the
figures of ICT adoption established in this study, it emerged that Irish farmers were
approaching a level of adoption that was similar to the UK, USA and New Zealand.
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It was found that Irish farmers who were married and with dependent children,
particularly older dependent children, were much more likely to have adopted ICT
within their homes; it is evident that these children have greater demand for ICT for
educational purposes and for recreational purposes and are a considerable influence in
encouraging adoption of ICT at household level. In addition, there were trends
whereby farmers and/or their spouses who had off-farm employment were more likely
to have adopted ICT than full-time farmers. This is likely to occur for two reasons,
one being the increased level of disposable income available in these households and
the other being exposure to sources of information about ICT external to their
immediate social system. Farmers engaged in specialist enterprises were more likely
to have adopted ICT; however, the proportions engaged in less profitable enterprises
that have adopted ICT was surprisingly high but it is suggested that this can be
attributed to the fact that these farmers or their spouses were more likely to have off-
farm employment. Finally, it emerged that those with medium-sizes farms were most
likely to have adopted ICT; a priori expectations were that those farming larger areas
would have greater requirements for ICT within their farming systems, it was
discovered that this latter category were least likely to have off-farm employment,
thus reducing their disposable income and their exposure to ICT in the workplace.
International comparisons from USA and European Union confirm that adoption and
use of ICTs varies among different sectors of the farming community in those
countries but in general has been found to be positively associated with farm size,
type of production, gross income levels, age and education (Bardon et al, 2007; Burke
and Sewake, 2008; Howell and Harbon, 2004, Warren, 2004)
5 Deployment of Extranet by Agribusinesses
In this section, a case study of an extranet website is presented. The term “extranet”,
according to Vlosky et al. (2000) is defined as a network that links business partners
to one another over the internet. They explain that this linkage is usually
accomplished by companies allowing their partners to access certain areas of their
intranet. There has been considerable interest in researching the role of extranets in
the business environment in recent years. Most of this research has focussed on
exploring the benefits accruing to business from adopting extranets and also analysing
the factors affecting their adoption. It has been found that the use of extranets can
facilitate the sharing of information, decrease operating costs, save time and
resources, improve customer service and generally improve business-to-business
relationships (Anderson (1998), cited by Vlosky et al., 2000). In spite of these
benefits, Windrum et al (2003) found that the adoption of extranets involved major
organisational innovation and altered communication between the firm and its clients
and suppliers.
However, very little research has been conducted among agribusinesses and
especially among farm businesses on their adoption of extranets. This present case
study helps to address this information deficit by analysing the experience of one
extranet service. The name of this extranet site is “AgriLink” and it was developed by
Glanbia, an international cheese and nutrition company, whose headquarters are in
Ireland. The group has 4,500 farmer milk suppliers and so is one of the larger milk
processing companies in Ireland. Glanbia set up an extranet site (www.agrilink.ie) in
1999 on a pilot basis and launched it among its suppliers in 2000. It was established to
108
provide a link between the Milk Division and Agribusiness section of Glanbia and the
farmer customers. It is a dedicated secure site whose purpose is to allow farmers have
access to all information relevant to their business with Glanbia. Milk suppliers have
access to a range of information regarding their milk account. This includes the latest
milk test results, individual milk collection details and copies of milk statements. A
superlevy statement is updated after every collection and help pages are provided with
advice on non-conforming test results. Trading account holders can view the current
balance on their accounts. Grain suppliers can select by grain type or intake branch to
confirm the latest test results, weight, price paid and value of grain supplied. Copies
of grain statements are also provided. AgriLink also provides a comprehensive news
section. This includes updates on the Glanbia Superlevy position, technical
information, links to other agri-websites and the latest Glanbia promotions. Thus,
AgriLink has an important extension element. Registering for access to the AgriLink
website has always been free to customers of Glanbia. In order to access AgriLink
milk suppliers require a Glanbia account number and access to the internet. This
extranet site is not unique in Ireland; in fact almost all of the large dairy cooperatives
have established similar services in recent years.
The main benefits for clients of using AgriLink include:
1. 24 hour per day access to account information through AgriLink seven days a
week.
2. AgriLink is updated daily, therefore the most current information regarding
accounts is provided.
3. AgriLink also provides historical information since 1999; this allows the farmer to
compare one month against the same month of another year.
4. Copy statements for milk, trading and grain accounts are provided.
5. Supplier's superlevy position updated after every milk collection.
6. Branch transactions updated daily after close of business.
7. Trading Statement download. This service allows a customer to select any month
and a file containing a copy of the customer's trading or milk account statements will
be forwarded by email to the customer. This file can then be downloaded into a farm
management accounts package.
The features on the AgriLink website that were most accessed during 2007 are
presented in Figure 1. Research was recently conducted by the author to evaluate the
AgriLink website. The overall objective of this research was to explore the
effectiveness of the AgriLink project in providing information to its farmers and to
determine how this could be improved. The specific objectives included, inter alia, to
describe the history and evolution of the website; to describe the present content and
how it is presented; to determine how many of the target users were actually using it;
to analyse/measure the success of the website; and to examine what constraints were
impeding farmers from using it.
5.1 Research Methodology
Data were obtained from the Glanbia website development team, Agribusiness
Division and Farm Development Section and from dairy farmers who supplied milk
to Glanbia Co-Op who provided primary data. The quantitative research took the form
of a postal questionnaire to a sample of Glanbia dairy farmers in order to establish
farmer views on their adoption and use of ICT and AgriLink. As the questionnaire
109
35
30%
30
25 22%
20
15 12%
10 9% 8%
5% 5%
5 2% 2% 1% 1% 3%
0
Figure 1. Hits on AgriLink during 2007 (N=857 suppliers who used AgriLink)
Source: AgriLink Development Team (personal communication)
was being posted to farmers, care was taken to ensure that all questions were clear
and unambiguous. The questionnaire was presented in A5 format in booklet form.
The questionnaire was initially piloted with a sample of five dairy farmers and final
adjustments were made to the questionnaire arising from this exercise. A letter was
prepared explaining the purpose of the research and Glanbia also provided a cover
letter of support.
Sample selection was on the basis of stratified random sample, stratified on the
basis of milk supplier usage of the AgriLink service. Of the 4,500 milk suppliers to
Glanbia some 2,200 were registered to use AgriLink but only 857 of these used the
site during 2007 (Source: Glanbia IT section, personal communication). Glanbia staff
compiled a list of all suppliers with their corresponding usage of AgriLink, where
usage was measured by the number of times each milk supplier logged on to the site.
Hits on the website were recorded each time milk suppliers logged on and sought
information regarding their accounts. The range of hits on the website varied from 1
to 2,500 during 2007. For this research, a sample of 165 dairy farmers in three
categories was selected: these consisted of 55 frequent users of AgriLink, 55
occasional users and 55 non users of the website. The most frequent 55 users for the
research were all those farmers who recorded hits on the AgriLink site of more than
460 times during the year. All 55 milk suppliers in this group (top 6% of users) were
110
selected to participate in this study. This group was designated as the frequent users
group.
The middle user group were identified as those who had between 192 to 460 hits
during 2007. Some 101 milk suppliers (12% of all users) were in this category and 55
were randomly selected to participate in the study and were designated as the
occasional users group.
In order to derive a non user group the complete Glanbia supplier database was
accessed and all AgriLink registered users were removed. It was observed that none
of those suppliers already selected had less than 21,997 gallons (100,000 litres) of
milk quota. In order to maintain a comparable sample in terms of enterprise scale, all
suppliers in this category were also removed and then 55 suppliers were selected by
random sample. This group was designated as the non-user group.
Questionnaires and cover letters were posted to all three groups. A stamped self
addressed envelope and a return date were also included with the questionnaires.
Eight days later a text message reminder was sent to all non respondents. Some 113
fully completed questionnaires were returned. This represented an excellent response
rate of 68% (113 out of 165). The breakdown of the three groups represented 43
frequent users (78% of sample), 41 occasional users (75% of sample), and 29 non
users (53% of sample).
The data were entered into the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS
11.0® for Windows) and analysed using this data manipulation programme.
Descriptive statistics (frequency distribution, percentages, measures of central
tendency and variability) were used to describe the data. Crosstabulations were used
to examine relationships between variables. This methodology is typical in research
of this nature which analyses adoption and use of ICTs (see, for instance, articles in
well recognised peer-reviewed journals by Alam and Noor (2009), Bayo-Moriones
and Lera-Lopez (2007) and Fabiani et al. (2005)).
5.2 Research Findings
Analysis of the data revealed that the profile of the typical AgriLink user was male,
engaged in full time farming, either young or middle aged (i.e. 35-50 years of age),
married with dependent children, and owner or joint owner of the farm business. He
was likely to be a Teagasc client, well educated and with a good level of agricultural
education. Non users of AgriLink were also likely to be male, full-time farmers but
were older (in age range 35 to 65 years), less likely to be a Teagasc client and also
had a lower level of education, including agricultural education.
When home PC ownership was examined it was found that 94% of respondents
had a home PC; this was expected as all AgriLink users had a home PC. However
76% of respondents who did not use AgriLink also had a home PC. This was
considerably higher than the national average of 53%. Connectivity to the internet
was examined and it was established that 49% of respondents used broadband, 2%
used ISDN and the remaining 48% used dial up. This half and half split between
broadband and dial up was poorer than the rate of broadband penetration nationally.
The distribution of respondents by their means of accessing the internet is presented
in Table 2.
111
Table 2. Type of Internet connection among Respondents by AgriLink User group (n = 113)
Internet Frequent Occasional Non Users Total
connection Users Users (n=29)
type (n=43) (n=41)
No % No % No % No
Dial-up 16 37% 22 54% 12 41% 50
Broadband 25 58% 18 44% 7 24% 50
ISDN 2 5% 1 2% 0 0 3
None 0 0 0 0 10 35% 10
Total 43 100% 41 100% 29 100% 113
When the three user groups were examined, the level of internet access was 100%
among users while access was at 65% among non users. The use of broadband was
also much lower among non users at 24% whereas over half of the frequent users had
broadband.
Adoption and Use of PC and Internet among Respondents When PC usage was
examined it was found that everybody in the respondents’ households could operate
the computer in 55% of cases while the respondent alone operated the computer in
34% of households. The remaining 11% of respondents indicated that their spouses
(4%) or their children (7%) could operate the PC. When the results were analysed by
AgriLink user groups a different picture emerges and the results are presented in
Table 3.
Table 3. Distribution of Respondent by who in household is capable of operating PC (n = 106)
Frequent Occasional Non Users Total
Users Users (n=22)
(n=43) (n=41)
PC operator No % No % No % No
Respondent 19 44% 13 32% 4 18% 36
Respondent’s 1 2% 2 5% 2 9% 5
spouse
Respondent’s 0 0% 0 0% 7 32% 7
children
Everyone 23 54% 26 63% 9 41% 58
Total 43 100% 41 100% 22 100% 106
The data in Table 3 indicate that respondents themselves were operating home PCs in
almost all cases where they used AgriLink whereas in non-users’ households only
60% of respondents could use a computer. Computer use by respondents was
examined to ascertain for what purposes the PC was used. It emerged that respondents
who used computers applied them to farm business use. The four options selected
most often were use of AgriLink (by 79% of respondents), maintaining herd records
112
(75% of respondents), maintaining miscellaneous farm records (68% of respondents),
and Entertainment (by 60% of respondents).
AgriLink usage among Respondents Respondents who used AgriLink were asked
how often they did so and their replies are summarised in Figure 2.
Less than once a month 1%
About once a month 20%
Once every two weeks 2%
About once a week 39%
Several times per week 6%
Daily or nearly everyday 32%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Figure 2. Distribution of Respondents according to Frequency of Use of AgriLink (n=88)
From Figure 2 it emerged that the majority of respondents used AgriLink regularly; a
significant proportion (32%) used the facility daily and 77% of respondents used it at
least weekly. Respondents were also asked for what purpose they used AgriLink and
their replies are summarised in Figure 3.
Respondents were asked to rate eleven features on AgriLink. Each feature was
evaluated on the basis of being very useful, of some use or of no use to the
respondents. All eleven features were easily accessed on AgriLink and were strongly
promoted by the website developers. The distribution of respondents by their
responses to these features is presented in Table 4. From Table 4 it is clear that
respondents who used AgriLink were very familiar with all milk related features on
the website. However Milk Statements and Annual Summaries were not as popular as
all other milk related features; despite this most respondents still found them useful or
of some use. On the other hand all agribusiness and online business features were
much less popular. The bulk feed ordering feature was used by 26 respondents but
only nine of these reported it to be of any use (i.e. very useful or of some use). The
General News section was also regarded as poor with only ten respondents finding it
very useful. The Statement Download facility was only useful to those who had a
farm software package to utilize it. While some 60% of respondents did indicate that
113
120%
95% 100% 100% 96%
100% 85%
80%
60%
60% 45%
37%
40%
20% 4%
0%
Figure 3. Distribution of Respondents according to purpose of AgriLink use (n=84);
Multiple responses allowed
they had a farm management software package it is clear that not all of them were
incorporating AgriLink into it and obtaining the full benefits of it.
Table 4. Distribution of Respondents by how useful they rated AgriLink features (n=88)
AgriLink Feature Very Of Of Have Total
Useful some no not Responses
Use Use tried it
Milk Monthly Summary 68 13 3 0 84
Milk Supply Details 77 6 1 0 84
Milk Test Results 79 4 1 0 84
Milk Statement 54 26 4 0 84
Super Levy Statement 73 6 3 2 84
Annual Summary 37 31 6 6 80
Trading Statement 39 22 8 12 81
Total Purchases 28 26 9 13 76
General News 10 29 26 13 78
Bulk Feed Ordering 5 4 17 47 73
Statement Download 19 16 10 30 75
Factors which influenced PC and Internet Adoption In this study PC and internet
adoption were found to be universal for users of AgriLink. For non users it was
necessary to examine the reasons for slower uptake of ICT. While 76% of
114
respondents who did not use AgriLink had access to computers at home, it was
considered unusual that they had not engaged with this resource and other factors,
other than access to a home PC, were clearly preventing them from realising the
benefits of AgriLink. It was found that non users of AgriLink were much less likely to
have completed computer training than either frequent users or occasional users. The
distribution of respondents by their level of computer training is presented in Table 5.
Table 5. Level of computer training completed according to AgriLink user group (n=110)
Computer Frequent Occasional Non Users Total
training Users Users (n=27)
(n=42) (n=41)
No % No % No % No
Beginners course 16 38% 18 44% 9 33% 43
Advanced course 8 19% 5 12% 0 0 13
(ECDL)
No Training 18 43% 18 44% 18 67% 54
Total 42 100% 41 100% 27 100% 110
From Table 5 it is notable that 56% of AgriLink users had engaged with computer
training whereas only 33% of non users had taken computer training. It may be
concluded that this low level of training among non users has influenced the adoption
of ICT and the use of AgriLink. Analysis revealed that 75% of non AgriLink users
had a home PC and 66% were connected to the internet. Figure 4 indicates what
would encourage Non User Respondents to use AgriLink.
60%
48%
50%
40%
30% 24% 21% 21% 21%
20% 10%
10% 7%
3%
0%
Figure 4: Distribution of non-using Respondents by Main Factor that would Encourage them to
use AgriLink (n=29); Multiple responses allowed
115
It is clear that a lack of computer training was a major impediment to increased
computer use and increased AgriLink use. Infrastructure was also an issue as more
than 20% of respondents felt that improved internet access would encourage them. A
number of respondents also were totally unaware that an AgriLink type service was
available as they felt that access to Trading and Milk Account details would
encourage them to use AgriLink. This indicates that an awareness campaign by
Glanbia, the service provider, might encourage increased use.
5.3 Conclusions from AgriLink Study
This study examined the Glanbia AgriLink extranet site and the respondents to the
survey could not be taken as representative of how Irish farmers are adopting ICT on
their farms. However the study did discover a number of issues which may be slowing
the rate of adoption of ICT. The sample of farmers who did not use AgriLink have
also embraced ICT but not to its full potential. Some 75% of those farmers have a
home PC and 60% of them can operate it. Therefore there is a huge onus on IT
support teams both in Glanbia and in training bodies such as Teagasc to provide
bespoke training to help those farmers in the years ahead to embrace ICT more fully
and so reap the benefits accruing.
6 Conclusions
This paper has analysed the penetration of ICTs among the general population and
among farmers in Ireland. It is apparent that considerable strides have been made in
ICT and eGovernment initiatives in Ireland in recent years. Unfortunately, however,
without the necessary infrastructural developments which include broadband, Irish
farmers could continue to be marginalised when it comes to ICT adoption.
6.1 Constraints that Impede Farmers from using ICT
It emerged throughout this paper that older farmers are less likely to use ICTs than
farmers under 50 years of age. Older farmers have less understanding of the benefits
of ICT adoption. This is partly due to their lower education levels. According to
ISITA (2003) computer training is an issue for farmers in the adoption of ICT and
research findings presented in this paper also found that the lack of computer skills is
an issue. Less than one third of non users of AgriLink, for instance, had completed
any formal computer training while none had completed more advanced ECDL
training compared with 57% of users who had training. This lack of training will
continue to be a barrier to increased uptake of ICT among non users.
While the skills necessary to engage with ICT continue to limit uptake, the lack of
infrastructure necessary to use ICT to its full potential continues to be a barrier. The
lack of availability of broadband in rural areas is limiting the impact of ICT among
Irish farmers. While rates of broadband use among AgriLink users, for example, was
high at 51%, it was much lower among non users at 24% indicating that lack of
availability and lack of awareness of the potential of broadband was evident among
non users. It may be recalled that recent research by Smith (2008) indicates that 75%
of rural areas in Ireland do not have an adequate broadband supply. This is significant
since 20% of non users of AgriLink did indicate that improved internet access would
encourage them to use it.
116
6.2 Recommendations which Emerge
The adoption of computer technology to enhance the flow of information to farmers is
seen as a vital tool to allow farmers remain competitive on a global stage. What is
clear from this paper is that a core group of farmers have embraced ICT and are
benefiting from its adoption. However, it is essential that barriers to the adoption of
ICT by farmers who are not using it are overcome. Efforts must be made to focus all
players within the agricultural industry to make ICTs more relevant to farmers.
The transformation which has taken place in Irish agriculture due to eGovernment
has been remarkable with the facilities to interact with the Ministry of Agriculture on
a number of schemes for farmers. This development is welcome and must continue.
However, one area where Government has not been so successful is in broadband
provision to rural areas, where the farming community are concentrated. Today, there
is a major imbalance in the provision of broadband to urban and rural areas with many
rural areas trailing in ICT penetration. The commitment given by Government to
extend the benefits of the Information Society to all parts of the country including
farming communities and the rural population must be delivered. Broadband is now
accepted as vital to rural sustainable development and without it farmers cannot make
full use of ICT.
Finally, it is evident that there is a desire among farmers to embrace ICT but
without the necessary skills to do so, this will not happen. If farmers are to adopt ICT
on a grand scale it will only happen if they are taught the skills which they can
implement immediately in relation to their farming businesses. While agribusinesses
themselves may not want to get involved directly in training, it is important that they
are supportive of organisations such as Teagasc or other local organisations in
delivering the type of training required by farmers.
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