This paper describes the development of a systems based model to characterise farmers
decision-making process in information-intensive practices, and its evaluation in the context
of Precision Agriculture (PA). A participative methodology was developed in which farm
managers decomposed their process of decision-making into brief decision statements along
with associated information requirements. The methodology was first developed on a university research farm in Denmark and further revised during testing on a number of research and
commercial farms in Indiana, USA. Twenty-one decision-analysis factors were identified to
characterise a farm managers decision-making process. Then, a general data flow diagram
(DFD) was constructed that describes the information flows ‘‘from data to decision’’. Illustrative examples of the model in the form of DFDs are presented for a strategic, a tactical and an
operational decision. The model was validated for a range of decisions related to operations by
three university farm managers and by five commercial farmers practicing PA for cereal, corn
and soybean production in Denmark and in Indiana, USA.