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Machinery costs are a significant part of the total costs on a farm and machinery costs have increased faster than the value from production the last 30 years. To increase the profit from plant production, it is a good idea to pay attention to the machinery system and machinery costs on the farm. For potato production, machinery costs is a bigger fraction of the total costs than in plant production in general.
The objective of this report is to enhance knowledge about machinery costs, machinery systems and co-operation of machinery in potato production. The report presents different methods to quantify the economical effects of different alternatives. The first part gives basics in calculation of machinery costs. The second part shows how to improve machine efficiency and how co-operation of machinery can be done. A method to evaluate different machinery strategies is presented.
Basic knowledge in calculation of machinery costs is to distinguish between fixed and running costs. Fixed costs are independent of if, and to what extent, a machine is used, whereas running costs increase the more hours or hectares the machine is used. Depending on if a cost is fixed or running, different changes in machinery use will affect the cost in different ways. To decrease a fixed cost, you need to increase production. To decrease a running cost, you need to improve capacity. In short, a machine should be used on as many hectares as possible, but for as short time as possible.
Choosing machinery influences not only machinery costs, but also costs for labor and timeliness costs. Thus, all of these costs have to be considered together to make the economically best machine selection. Timeliness costs are difficult to quantify. An alternative method is to estimate the available hours for each field operation.
Field size, shape and location are of main importance for capacity, hence also of importance for the running costs. The heavy amounts of seed and harvested products in potato production will make the optimal field length different from other crops. Higher input costs will raise the importance of minimizing overlap. Wide tracks for each tramline can increase capacity and improve product quality, and also decrease costs for crop row tires.
Increased production is the way to decrease fixed costs per produced unit. Alternatives to increase your own production are different forms of co-operation with other farmers. Different methods for sensitivity analysis can be useful tools to compare different strategies in machinery selection.
Finally, the report shows different ways to improve single field operations. Precision agriculture gives new possibilities for effective use of inputs, i.e. decrease the running costs. Nutrient supply to the potato crop is of great importance for product quality. Hence, site-specific fertilizing can increase profit, especially in crops where price is strongly influenced by quality.