Engineering Commons^™

Options For Machinery And Labour, A F. Herbert

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Machinery is one of the highest costs in farming today. It is not unusual for capital investment in machinery to be 20 to 30 percent of the total investment in the farm.

On an annual basis, expenditure directly attributable to machinery can be 40 per cent or more.

This article cannon be a panacea for everyone to reduce machinery costs - each farm is different. But some of the issues might be of help.

The Machinery Crisis, W T. Brown

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The machinery crisis - I believe we have come through a crisis in farming efficiency. To maintain his income, the farmer has had to reduce his costs of production, or increase production per man. He has done this by climbing to a new plateau of efficiency, and he expanded or got out; he has substituted capital for labour.

In many cases this means bigger, more powerful machinery. This is not a simple or easy move and there are many potential ways to mske the wrong decision.

Service And Spare Parts, D Hosken

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Service is the preparation, delivery and after-sales maintenance of machinery. It involves responsibilities for both the dealer and the purchaser.

Replacing Farm Machinery, R Crossman

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

In talking of machinery replacement it seems implied that the replacement items of plant are bigger and therefore better than their predecessers. It is also implied that plant replacement is becoming more costly.

Before any decision to replace machinery, the reason for replacement should be carefully considered.

There may be alternatives to the bigger and better solution.

Low Cost Fencing, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Fences with more wire and posts are not necessarily stronger.

Design using high tensile wire can save on materials and reduce costs.

How Many Acres Per Hour?, J G. Drever

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

MANY farm tractor operators don't know exactly how much land is covered in an hour by implements drawn by their tractors. This information, useful on any farm where tractors are used, is of particular value in contract work.

The capacity of the machine or implement, or in other words, its rate of working, depends on the width of the machine, how fast it travels, how efficiently it is operated and the time it works.

Hold On To Your Egg Profits, J A. Hoy

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

IN recent years, much sound advice has been made available to poultry farmers to assist them in developing their properties and operating them on profitable lines.

Much of this advice has been utilised to good advantage, but there are still many properties on which the profits are being reduced by feed wastage, damage by rats and mice, lack of sufficient attention to egg quality, unnecessarily high labour costs and failure to keep farm records.

Department Of Agriculture Moved To South Perth, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

After more than half a century in the historic but time-worn building, one of few adorned with the British Government crest of the Lion and the Unicorn, on the Eastern side of government gardens in St George's Terrace, the Departmnet of Agriculture has been transfred to a new location in South Perth.