Eliciting dairy farmers' willingness to pay for digital devices for Precision Livestock Farming

The adoption of Precision Livestock Farming devices represents a strategic investment for enhancing competitiveness and sustainability of livestocks. However, widespread adoption faces challenges, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, due to high initial and maintenance costs and technical complexities. This study applies an experimental economics approach to elicit dairy cattle farmers’ willingness to pay for an innovative, low-cost, stand-alone pedometer, through an experimental auction. The findings show that farmers are not a priori opposed to the adoption of digital devices and traditional barriers to the adoption of digital devices can be overcome if such devices are economically affordable and user-friendly.