Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
An Economic Feasibility Assessment Of Autonomous Field Machinery In Grain Crop Production, Jordan Murphy Shockley, Carl R. Dillon, Scott A. Shearer
An Economic Feasibility Assessment Of Autonomous Field Machinery In Grain Crop Production, Jordan Murphy Shockley, Carl R. Dillon, Scott A. Shearer
Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications
A multi-faceted whole farm planning model is developed to compare conventional and autonomous machinery for grain crop production under various benefit, farm size, suitable field day risk aversion, and grain price scenarios. Results suggest that autonomous machinery can be an economically viable alternative to conventional manned machinery if the establishment of intelligent controls is cost effective. An increase in net returns of 24% over operating with conventional machinery is found when including both input savings and a yield increase due to reduced compaction. This study also identifies the break-even investment price for intelligent controls for the safe and reliable commercialization …