Herd management software adoption in dairy farming in İzmir, Türkiye: the interplay of attitudes, willingness to use, and farmer heterogeneity

This study aimed to analyze dairy cattle farmers’ attitudes toward the use of herd management software and their willingness to pay for such technologies. Primary data were collected through face-to-face surveys with 166 dairy cattle farmers in İzmir, Türkiye. In the study, factor analysis revealed two underlying dimensions of dairy farmers’ attitudes toward herd management software: self-efficacy and perceived usefulness. Subsequently, cluster analysis was applied to group farmers based on these dimensions, yielding three distinct segments: low-adoption-oriented farmers, confident adopters, and constrained potential adopters. The findings showed that farmers in the confident adopters segment were younger, had higher education levels, and had shorter general agricultural and dairy farming experience. However, these farmers were most willing to pay the maximum annual amount for herd management software. Additionally, farmers engaged in non-agricultural employment, those whose children were not involved in dairy farming, those employing hired labor, and those who kept farm records were significantly more willing to use herd management software. These findings demonstrate that both farmer attitudes and socio-economic characteristics play a decisive role in the adoption of herd management software. The study provides important implications for designing targeted agricultural digitalization policies and extension strategies that account for farmer heterogeneity.