Abstract Digitalization and the use of Smart Farming Technologies are considered a major opportunity for the future of agriculture. However, realisation of full benefits is constrained by: (1) farmers' interest in and use of big data to improve farm decision making; (2) issues of data sovereignty and trust between providers and users of data and technology; (3) institutional arrangements associated with the governance of data platforms. This paper examines the case of Australia's dairy herd milk recording system, arguably one of agriculture's first cases of ‘big data’ use, which collects, analyses and uses farm-level data (milk production, lactation and breeding records) to provide individual cow and herd performance information, used by individual farmers for farm management decisions. The aim of this study was to 1) examine the use of big data to add value to farm decision making; and 2) explore factors and processes, including institutional arrangements, which influence farmer engagement with and use of big data. This paper traces the Australian history of the organisation of dairy herd recording (established in 1912 and digitalized in late 1970s) and then uses findings from a longitudinal study of 7 case study dairy farms, which were incentivised to become involved in herd recording in 2015. Applying a conceptual framework linking path dependency in farm decision making and collaborative governance capacity, we find three new important dimensions of the farm user context influencing farmer demand for big data applications: 1) the transition to a new business stage; 2) the additionality farmers seek from data generated in one component of the farm system to other subsystems, and 3) the use of data in long term or strategic decision making. Further, we identified critical attributes of support services in addressing digital literacy, capacity and capability issues at farm level, including diversity in data presentation formats and facilitation of the on-farm transition process through intermediary herd test organisations. The role of farmers as governance actors, or citizens in the decisions of the trajectory of big data applications, adds to understanding of the nature of collaborative governance arrangements that support farm engagement.

中文翻译：

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大数据让农业更智能：来自澳大利亚国家奶牛场牛奶记录计划案例的见解

摘要 数字化和智能农业技术的使用被认为是农业未来的重大机遇。然而，充分收益的实现受到以下因素的制约：（1）农民对大数据的兴趣和利用大数据来改善农业决策；(2) 数据和技术的提供者和使用者之间的数据主权和信任问题；(3) 与数据平台治理相关的制度安排。本文考察了澳大利亚奶牛产奶记录系统的案例，该系统可以说是农业“大数据”使用的首批案例之一，该系统收集、分析和使用农场级数据（牛奶生产、泌乳和繁殖记录）以提供个体奶牛和畜群绩效信息，供个体农民用于农场管理决策。本研究的目的是 1) 检验大数据的使用为农场决策增加价值；2) 探索影响农民参与和使用大数据的因素和过程，包括制度安排。本文追溯了澳大利亚奶牛记录组织的历史（成立于 1912 年，并于 1970 年代后期数字化），然后利用对 7 个案例研究奶牛场的纵向研究结果，这些奶牛场在 2015 年被激励参与畜群记录。应用连接农场决策和协同治理能力中的路径依赖的概念框架，我们发现农场用户环境的三个新的重要维度影响农民对大数据应用的需求：1）向新业务阶段的过渡；2) 农民从农场系统的一个组成部分生成的数据到其他子系统中寻求的额外性，以及 3) 在长期或战略决策中使用数据。此外，我们确定了支持服务在解决农场层面的数字素养、能力和能力问题方面的关键属性，包括数据呈现格式的多样性以及通过中间畜群测试组织促进农场过渡过程。农民作为治理参与者或公民在大数据应用轨迹决策中的作用，增加了对支持农场参与的协作治理安排性质的理解。我们确定了支持服务在解决农场层面的数字素养、能力和能力问题方面的关键属性，包括数据呈现格式的多样性以及通过中间畜群测试组织促进农场过渡过程。农民作为治理参与者或公民在大数据应用轨迹决策中的作用，增加了对支持农场参与的协作治理安排性质的理解。我们确定了支持服务在解决农场层面的数字素养、能力和能力问题方面的关键属性，包括数据呈现格式的多样性以及通过中间畜群测试组织促进农场过渡过程。农民作为治理参与者或公民在大数据应用轨迹决策中的作用，增加了对支持农场参与的协作治理安排的性质的理解。