https://hdl.handle.net/10182/49 Thu, 25 Jan 2018 15:17:03 GMT 2018-01-25T15:17:03Z https://hdl.handle.net/10182/103 Computer use and attitudes for a sample of Canterbury, New Zealand dairy farmers Alvarez, Jorge; Nuthall, Peter L. With the objective of collecting data for assessing research hypotheses about information management, a mail survey was carried out on Canterbury dairy farmers between July and August of 2000. From a total of 537 questionnaires sent, 300 were received, resulting in 290 usable responses. This report describes the average farm, farm sizes, the manager's dairy farming experience and age, tenancy, education, management teams, non-family people giving a reasonable input into farm decision making, farm office equipment used, computer use, software utilisation, information sources, internet use, farmer goals, and farmer opinions about information management. While almost three quarters of the farmers own a computer, 61% are using computerised systems to manage farm information. Financial management was the most common use of computers with 54.48% of the farmers using them in this way, followed by the livestock area with 35.17%, while only 16.9% of the farmers were using software to support their feed management. Farmers using computerised systems were younger, more educated, and more profit oriented than non-users. This group managed bigger farms, they have been farming less time both in Canterbury and in total, and they also used farm advisers more extensively in their decision making, and they spent more time doing office work. Sun, 01 Jul 2001 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/10182/103 2001-07-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10182/102 Computers and information management in Canterbury dairy farming Alvarez, Jorge; Nuthall, Peter L. For providing systems to support decision making it is important to understand how farmers collect and manage decision information. Using data from a mail survey a ""three-information-area"" and ""four-system-type"" model was tested to describe Canterbury dairy farmer's information management structure. Those using computerised systems in every area were the largest group, but representing only 12% of farmers. Farmers using computerised systems in different information areas show similar characteristics in contrast to non-users, such as having farmed less years, being younger, having larger herds and bigger farms, being more educated, spending more time doing office work, involving more both farm adviser and accountant time, and being more profit oriented. Those who own computers, but do not use computerised information systems, are not statistically different from those not owning computers. The use of computers for managing feed and pasture information seems to be more restricted than for finance and livestock. The relationships among farm management computer use and the farmer's characteristics were checked using single statistical tests, regression and cluster analyses. The research findings are relevant for those aiming to improve farmer information management and also for farm software developers. Sun, 01 Jul 2001 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/10182/102 2001-07-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10182/101 The relationships between computer use and Canterbury dairy farmers' goals, personality traits and learning styles Alvarez, J.; Nuthall, Peter L. To help explain dairy farmers' use of software in managing farm information, farmers' goals, personality traits and Kolb's learning styles were included as independent variables in a model. The relationships were tested against on-farm computerised information system (CIS) use and other related variables. Relationships were in fact identified, using both direct and indirect correlation, between farmer's psychological characteristics and their computer related behaviour. Furthermore, cluster analysis was used to find a complex relationship indicating computerised information system use seems to be related to abstract conceptualisation, two psychological profiles, introspection and extroversion, and a preference to follow management principles. On the other hand, a high scoring in ""concrete experience"" may be related to a delay in CIS adoption. These findings will help in assisting farmers, especially those who want to improve their information systems, decide on their personal computer aptitude. Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/10182/101 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10182/100 Canterbury dairy farmers' opinions about using computerised farm information systems Alvarez, Jorge; Nuthall, Peter L. Canterbury dairy farmers' opinions about computerised systems used for managing farm information were collected through 39 stratified, randomly selected interviews. Farmers who are using software note they can save time, the software supports their farm management work, and it also enables them to use management approaches requiring more detailed information. Farmers who are not using computerised systems, but are considering this possibility, explain they are facing other priorities relative to improving their information systems. They are aware of the computer and software advantages, and they have a positive feeling towards computing technology. Some of them, however, feel insecure about their ability to use computers. Farmers not considering computerised systems believe computer technology is useless for their particular situations. Some farmers think computerised systems are unable to solve their actual farm problems, others feel themselves too old to learn the new technology. The interviews have confirmed ""earlier"" findings from a former mail survey. Key factors associated with the adoption of computer technology are farmer age, directly and through its relationship with farmer education; farmer education itself; the size of the herd; and consultant use intensity and involvement in farm management decision making. Sun, 01 Jul 2001 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/10182/100 2001-07-01T00:00:00Z