Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

As agricultural margins tighten, farmers are considering strategies to minimize costs to create a greater revenue, one being optimizing machinery costs (Zwilling 2021). Niléhn (2023:1) discusses the significant price development on agricultural equipment, where the prices have increased 30-50% from 2020 to 2023. It would therefore presumably be more cost-effective to utilize used agricultural equipment, none where however written on the subject. The aim of this study was therefore to identify the economic viability of used agriculture machinery as part of a cost-effective equipment strategy in a Swedish context.

The study approached the aim by conducting machinery cost calculations on seven different common agricultural machines found on a grain farm of roughly 300 hectares. The calculations were conducted on the individual machines, and as part of a machinery system. When compared, the system with the older machines gave a lower annual cost than the new. The cost minimized system did, however, contain a combination of new and old machinery, notably older tractors and combines and newer implements.

The results did prove the economic viability of older agricultural equipment as part of a cost-effective equipment strategy. The results are however, based on contextual variables as interest rates and grain prices that may change over time, which may alter the outcome.