28 pages., Via Science Direct., Precision agriculture (PA) constitutes a dynamic production method which is gaining attention in several parts of the world. Its environmental and economic sustainability has been examined in terms of its ability to reduce the adverse effects of agrochemical use—by regulating their application to the levels needed at the land parcel level—and of its contribution to higher incomes and profitability. At the social level, PA has been linked to collective action although little insight is available regarding the role of various actors and education. This study tackles PA through an assessment of the attitudes of farmers towards the elements of its sustainability and of their educational needs. The analysis of survey data of a sample of young farmers in Greece showed that the majority of respondents were not familiar with PA. Significant differences were found between the attitudes of knowledgeable and non-knowledgeable farmers, the former demonstrating better acknowledgement of the environmental, economic and social sustainability of PA. Important educational needs were also detected, with group and individual methods being the most preferred ones for education and information campaigns. The results of the analysis could be of use for the design of Common Agricultural Policy Pillar II measures for the promotion of PA targeting to specific audiences and actors.
20 pages, To achieve social sustainability, there is a need to incorporate social metrics of farmers’ well- being into agricultural monitoring systems. We contribute to the operationalisation of the measurement of farmers’ well- being by determining how farm- level factors influence farmers’ satisfaction with their work and quality of life. Using a data sample of 1099 farms that are part of the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) in nine European countries, we tested a set of hypotheses related to work satisfaction and life quality perception based on a structural equation model. Satisfaction with on- farm work has a significant and substantial influence on satisfaction with quality of life. Farm- level aspects, such as working time, age of assets, financial situation of the farm and community engagement, significantly influenced farmers’ satisfaction with farming, but their joint effect explained less than one- fifth of the satisfaction. The results suggest that agricultural information systems intended to monitor and compare sustainability progress on farms would benefit from the integration of a metric measuring social concerns from the farmers’ point of view
