Monitor, log and dissect equipment efficiency
The No. 1 per-acre cost to produce a corn crop stems from the land on which it is grown. The #2 cost is not what you might think. It is not the expensive genetics or the tons of fertilizer — it’s paint. Green, red, yellow, blue or whatever shade or hue — those colorful mechanical horses that plant, harvest and tend to your growing crop make up nearly 20 percent of the overall cost to produce it. That is according to a 2019 Iowa State University study.
In a time when producers have squeezed almost all the blood out the the crop input turnip they can, maybe it is machinery’s turn to donate to the bottom line. Current and emerging tech in the farm machinery space is exposing efficiency gains to be had today and giving us a glimpse of what may be in the fields in the crop years to come.
What is Possible Now
The look, feel and capabilities of farm machinery is not likely to dramatically change overnight. But do not discount the positive returns seen on many farms by existing precision technologies like auto steer. Want proof? A 2011 North Dakota survey showed farms that had adopted auto steer reduced both machine time and fuel used by nearly 12%. That doesn’t even factor in the gains from the reduction of seeds and crop inputs by not overlapping. That’s significant.
Reducing tachometer hours and simultaneously increasing worked acres per hour is still the lowest hanging ROI fruit for producers to pick today. Consider for a moment what it costs to operate a 310-horsepower front-wheel assist tractor. In 2017, the University of Illinois pegged that cost at $164 per tach hour when you consider machine, fuel and labor costs combined.
The truth of the matter is simple. Total tach hours are the primary driver of machine depreciation. It doesn’t matter to the dealer whether those hours were racked up working, idling or trans-porting. But at the end of the day it should to you. Identifying your machine’s inefficiencies are key to turning those hours into more worked acres.
Just like the yield monitors of yesteryear, the technology finally exists whether be factory or third-party installed to monitor, record and dissect the efficiency of the machines on your farm. Understanding and acting upon this new information will be the first step in how data will drive the next significant leap in reducing per acre production costs.
Iron Iron Horse to Autonomous
Some would say that a perfect storm is brewing that will not only evolve farm machinery but revolutionize it on the magnitude as when the iron horse put real horses out to pasture. Monitoring performance as mentioned will be just the first baby step. Next, will come the confluence of robotics, artificial intelligence and true autonomous machines.
And small just may replace big, especially as these technologies evolve. According to a Gold-man Sachs report a fleet of smaller autonomous tractors could lift farmer revenue by more than 10 percent and simultaneously reduce farm labor costs. They predict that autonomous smaller tractors could grow to a $45 billion market just by itself. We’ve already seen companies jockeying to position themselves for just such an opportunity. Note Raven Industries acquisitions of the autonomous startups DOT and SmartAg. Then there’s John Deere’s acquiring of Blue River Technology to drive input efficiencies.
Finally there are external forces that could accelerate such change even more. In September 2020, the governor of California signed an executive order that will ban the sale of gasoline powered cars and light trucks by the year 2035. That’s not that far away and many are wondering what this means for agriculture in California and whether or how fast this might spread beyond this state’s borders. Who knows, your tractor of the future might just measure power in volts and not horses. This is for sure, costs will determine the speed of adoption of such tech and right now agriculture needs to drive machine efficiency faster than ever before.
Steve Cubbage’s company, Record Harvest, provides precision ag data management consulting to ag retailers and farmers.
