Based on the survey data of 1 317 farmers in the main rice-producing areas of Hubei Province, this study uses the Probit model to empirically analyze the impact of digital finance use level on farmers’ production custody behavior and its mechanism. The results show that: 1) The level of digital finance usage has a significant positive impact on farmers’ production custody behavior. 2) The level of digital finance usage encourages farmers to participate in agricultural production custody services by promoting the transfer of arable land, improving the level of farmers’ entrepreneurship and improving the availability of farmers’ information. 3) There is heterogeneity in the impact of the use level of digital finance on farmers’ production custody behavior. Specifically, the usage level of digital finance has a more significant positive impact on the production custody behavior of farmers aged 65 or above, whose family cultivated land area is 2 hm2 or above, and those with a higher degree of land fragmentation.4) The level of digital finance usage has a significant positive impact on farmers’ field management outsourcing behavior, but it does not significantly affect outsourcing behaviors in the sowing and harvesting and drying stages. Therefore, it is necessary to accelerate the improvement of the digital financial system in rural areas, actively carry out the special service of “digital finance + production custody” and improve the efficiency of digital financial services. Meanwhile, we should strengthen group inclusion in digital financial services, provide personalized digital financial products tailored for farmers, overcome the “last mile”of digital financial inclusion, and effectively encourage farmers to participate in agricultural production custody services.
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