Planning Equipment According to Machine Performance and Cost

Putting together an ideal machinery system is not easy. Equipment that works best one year may not work well the next because of changes in weather conditions or crop production practices. Improvements in design may make older equipment obsolete. And, the number of hectares being farmed or the amount of labour available may change.

Because many of these variables are unpredictable, the goal of the good machinery manager should be to have a system that is flexible enough to adapt to a range of weather and crop conditions while minimizing long-run costs and production risks. To meet these goals several fundamental questions must be answered.

First, each piece of machinery must perform reliably under a variety of field conditions or it is a poor investment regardless of its cost.

Tillage implements should prepare a satisfactory seedbed while conserving moisture, destroying early weed growth and minimizing erosion potential. Planters and seeders should provide consistent seed placement and population as well as properly apply pesticides and fertilizers. Harvesting equipment must harvest clean, undamaged grain while minimizing field losses.

The performance of a machine often depends on the skill of the operator, or on weather and soil conditions. Nevertheless, differences among machines can be evaluated through field trials, research reports and personal experience.

Machinery Costs

Once a particular type of tillage, planting, weed control, or harvesting machine has been selected, the question of how to minimize machinery costs must be answered. Machinery that is too large for a particular farming situation will cause machinery ownership costs to be unnecessarily high over the long run; machinery that is too small may result in lower crop yields or reduced quality.

Ownership Costs

Machinery ownership costs include charges for depreciation, interest on investment, property taxes, insurance and machinery housing. These costs increase in direct proportion to machinery investment and size.

Operating Costs

Operating costs include fuel, lubricants and repairs. Operating costs per acre change very little as machinery size is increased or decreased. Using larger machinery consumes more fuel and lubricants per hour, but this is essentially offset by the fact that more hectares are covered per hour. Much the same is true of repair costs. Thus, operating costs are of minor importance when deciding what size machinery is best suited to a certain farming operation.