IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/haaepa/322755.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Economics of Field Size for Autonomous Crop Machines

Author

Listed:
  • Abdullah Al-Amin, A.K.M
  • Lowenberg‑DeBoer, James
  • Franklin, K.
  • Behrendt, K.

Abstract

Field size constrains spatial and temporal management of agriculture with implications for farm profitability, field biodiversity and environmental performance. Large, conventional equipment struggles to farm small, irregularly shaped fields efficiently. The study hypothesized that autonomous crop machines would make it possible to farm small non-rectangular fields profitably, thereby preserving field biodiversity and other environmental benefits. Using the experience of the Hands Free Hectare (HFH) demonstration project, this study developed algorithms to estimate field times (hr/ha) and field efficiency (%) subject to field size in grain-oil-seed farms of the United Kingdom using four different equipment sets. Results show that field size had a substantial impact on technical and economic performance of all equipment sets, but autonomous machines were able to farm small 1 ha non-rectangular (i.e., right-angled triangular) fields profitably. Small fields with equipment of all sizes and types required more time, but for HFH equipment sets (i.e., 28 kW conventional machine with human operator and 28 kW autonomous equipment set) field size had the least impact. HFH linear programming model solutions show that autonomous machines decreased wheat production cost by £21/ton to £40/ton for small non-rectangular fields, while 112 kW and 221 kW equipment sets with human operators were not profitable for small fields. Technical and economic feasibility in small fields imply that autonomous machines could facilitate biodiversity and improve environmental performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Abdullah Al-Amin, A.K.M & Lowenberg‑DeBoer, James & Franklin, K. & Behrendt, K., 2022. "Economics of Field Size for Autonomous Crop Machines," Agri-Tech Economics Papers 322755, Harper Adams University, Land, Farm & Agribusiness Management Department.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:haaepa:322755
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.322755
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/322755/files/Economics_of_Field_Size_for_Autonomous_Crop_Machines.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.322755?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Al-Amin, A.K.M. Abdullah & Lowenberg-DeBoer, James & Franklin, Kit & Behrendt, Karl, 2021. "Economic Implications of Field Size for Autonomous Arable Crop Equipment," Land, Farm & Agribusiness Management Department 316595, Harper Adams University, Land, Farm & Agribusiness Management Department.
    2. Miller, Thomas A. & Rodewald, Gordon E. & McElroy, Robert G., 1981. "Economies of Size in U.S. Field Crop Farming," Agricultural Economic Reports 307907, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    3. Al-Amin, A.K.M. Abdullah & Lowenberg-DeBoer, James & Franklin, Kit & Behrendt, Karl, 2021. "Economic Implications of Field Size for Autonomous Arable Crop Equipment," Agri-Tech Economics Papers 316595, Harper Adams University, Land, Farm & Agribusiness Management Department.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Abdullah Al-Amin, A.K.M & Lowenberg‑DeBoer, James & Franklin, K. & Behrendt, K., 2022. "Economics of Field Size for Autonomous Crop Machines," Land, Farm & Agribusiness Management Department 322755, Harper Adams University, Land, Farm & Agribusiness Management Department.
    2. Robert Finger, 2023. "Digital innovations for sustainable and resilient agricultural systems," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 50(4), pages 1277-1309.
    3. Baum, Kenneth H. & Harrington, David H., 1983. "Effects of Alternative Economic Scenarios and Commodity Policies on Regional Representative Farms," Staff Reports 337010, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    4. Al-Amin, A.K.M. Abdullah & Lowenberg-DeBoer, James & Franklin, Kit & Behrendt, Karl, 2021. "Economic Implications of Field Size for Autonomous Arable Crop Equipment," Land, Farm & Agribusiness Management Department 316595, Harper Adams University, Land, Farm & Agribusiness Management Department.
    5. Al-Amin, A.K.M. Abdullah & Lowenberg-DeBoer, James & Franklin, Kit & Behrendt, Karl, 2021. "Economic Implications of Field Size for Autonomous Arable Crop Equipment," Agri-Tech Economics Papers 316595, Harper Adams University, Land, Farm & Agribusiness Management Department.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Crop Production/Industries; Land Economics/Use;

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:haaepa:322755. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dlhauuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.