'Agricultural farmer often over-mechanized'

British arable farmers are often over-mechanized compared to their farm size. AHDB concludes that after its own research. It is striking that especially the large companies have many machines, which results in high costs per hectare.

The British Trade Association; Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), (in collaboration with real estate agency Strutt & Parker) conducted research into the machine costs of arable farms. To this end, the financial figures of 21 so-called 'monitor farms' were compared. These are arable farmers who open their farms to colleagues to share knowledge. They are located all over the British Isle.

Big, but not cheaper
The farm sizes vary from 97 to almost 1.300 hectares. This spread also applies to the machine costs per hectare; which range from £113 to a maximum of £290 per hectare (converted €128 to €330). "Despite the difference in size, we could not find any advantage in the costs of large companies," AHDB manager Harry Henderson told Farmer's Weekly.

"We had expected that large companies would be able to spread their investment costs better over the number of hectares, but this was not the case," he continues. "Some of the largest companies also had the highest machine costs. They simply spend too much money buying new equipment."

Heavy or light soil
AHDB could not find a link between the different soil types. "The 21 farms cover all types of soil. We expected that the farms on heavy soils also had the highest machine costs. However, the figures show that farms with light soils incur the highest costs. Small farmers on heavy soils have the lowest costs."

Source: AHDB/Strutt & Parker

Sowing and reaping
The entrepreneurs cite the reason for overmechanisation that they can carry out the work more quickly and are therefore less susceptible to the weather. Henderson sees it differently: "Wet springs and difficult summers have allowed farmers to increase their sowing and harvesting capacity. These are areas of focus for managing machine costs. Larger machines are heavier and cause more rutting when wet. It takes years. before you fix this."

Henderson advises farmers struggling with high machine costs to overhaul their policies. "It's important not to be tempted by the neighbor to buy a bigger machine. Companies with the biggest and shiniest tractors usually don't run the best."

Replacement Policy
AHDB has a number of tips for companies that struggle with a (too) high cost price. This starts with driving longer with a tractor. The trade-in value decreases, but driving longer (until the depreciation has stabilised) is cheaper than a quick trade-in. Depreciation is a considerable expense, but maintenance, new tires or even overhauling a gearbox are usually cheaper than buying new.

For the long term, it is good to draw up a replacement policy. Look at the cost of the total system and determine an appropriate amount to invest in new machines.

Niels van der Boom

Niels van der Boom is a senior market specialist for arable crops at DCA Market Intelligence. He mainly makes analyses and market updates about the potato market. In columns he shares his sharp view on the arable sector and technology.

n.vanderboom@boerenbusiness. Nl

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