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Cotton is a high-value, high-input crop with potential for profitable precision farming and reductions in input use. Our objective was to determine the factors that influence cotton farmers to use precision soil sampling and variable rate fertilizer and lime application. Probit analysis was used to evaluate responses from a 2001 survey of cotton farmers in six Southeastern states. Farm size, college attendance, farmer age, land quality, and farmer perceptions about the importance and profitability of cotton precision farming were significant in determining the use of precision soil sampling. Variable rate application of fertilizer and lime, given that a farmer used precision soil sampling, was significantly explained by land quality, the farmers age, and the farmers knowledge about the cost of precision farming. These results could be used to develop policies that increase input efficiency by encouraging the use of precision farming technologies.