About one-third of respondents said they were on the verge of quitting farming or were unlikely to continue farming for another 5 years. However, more than half the farmers in the sample said they were likely to stay in business indefinitely. Most who expected to stay in business indefinitely said they could do so because they had enough off-farm income to help keep their family afloat. Almost twice as many dairy farmers as non-dairy farmers expected to farm indefinitely because their farm was providing sufficient income for their households. Wisconsin farms differ greatly in their use of technologies.
Computer use continues to increase among Wisconsin farm operators.
Although half of all farms now have a computer, less than one-third use a computer for managing farm records and less than 20 percent use one to access farm information on the internet. Between 13 and 15 percent of farmers report planting genetically modified crops in 1998. Cash grain farms were the most likely to use the new technology. Less than 4 percent of respondents currently use precision agriculture, although another 6 percent plan to adopt some form of the new farming practice during the next 5 years. Fifty to 60 percent of the farmers felt that government policies were the primary cause of low farm income in recent years.