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Whole farm analysis of automatic section control for agricultural machinery

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Abstract

Automatic section control was analyzed in a whole farm decision-making framework when implemented on an agricultural sprayer and/or planter. In addition, various field types and navigational scenarios were examined to determine their impact on profitability. It was determined that automatic section control increased net returns under all scenarios; up to $36/ha. This investigation highlighted the importance of considering field size in addition to field shape as well as initial navigational scenarios when determining the profitability of automatic section control.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Kentucky, 331 C.E. Barnhart Building, Lexington, KY, 40546-0276, USA

    Jordan Shockley

  2. Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Kentucky, 403 C.E. Barnhart Building, Lexington, KY, 40546-0276, USA

    Carl R. Dillon

  3. Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, University of Kentucky, 214 C.E. Barnhart Building, Lexington, 40546-0276, KY, USA

    Tim Stombaugh

  4. Department of Food, Agriculture and Biological Engineering, The Ohio State University, 590 Woody Hayes Dr, Columbus, 43210, OH, USA

    Scott Shearer

Authors
  1. Jordan Shockley
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  2. Carl R. Dillon
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  3. Tim Stombaugh
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  4. Scott Shearer
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Correspondence to Jordan Shockley.

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Shockley, J., Dillon, C.R., Stombaugh, T. et al. Whole farm analysis of automatic section control for agricultural machinery. Precision Agric 13, 411–420 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-011-9256-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-011-9256-z

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