Costs and benefits associated with the use of farm machinery are difficult tocalculate. A research programme was established to highlight the area of machinerycosts and to provide information on which to base mechanisation decisions.A machinery cost survey was the central part of the programme which collecteddetailed machinery cost information from 40 arable farms over a period of threeyears. Costing methods were developed to provide an annual per-hectare cost foreach machine over its ownership period. An average annual machinery cost figure of£194/ha, excluding labour, was recorded. Costs varied from £93/ha to £340/habetween farms. Depreciation and interest accounted for almost 60% of the total costsfigure.Larger farms (>160 ha) had lower costs and less cost variation than smaller- andmedium-sized farms. They were more machinery efficient, with lower levels ofmachinery investment per hectare. Smaller- and medium-sized farms had muchgreater cost variation with many farms being over-mechanised, resulting in excessivemachinery costs. The importance of selecting an appropriate mechanisation policyfor individual farm situations was evident.Using information from the survey to select appropriate costing methodology fromother research, a simple cost-prediction computer program was developed. Thisallows costs for an individual machine at any use level to be estimated. This programwas used to evaluate various mechanisation options on 40, 100 and 240 ha farms.The program was then redeveloped for use by the advisory service. It is a decisionsupporttype program which requires input from a trained operator with experience ofmechanisation. It should prove useful in determining farm mechanisation policiesagainst a background of changing mechanisation technology, farm labour supply andpotential price-support reductions.
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