Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure
10.9.
Farm buildings in the Philippines, Ecuador, and the United States.
easily available locally and were constructed at minimal cost to house the needed
equipment or animals.
10.9
EQUIPMENT
The equipment used by farmers varies according to the climate, soil, crop, and
economic condition of the farmer. For the Philippine subsistence farmer the most
expensive items he owns is often the equipment he uses to farm the rented land.
Even though the lining board used to mark rows for transplanting rice is a simple
tool, it is essential for precisely spacing the transplanted rice plants. An estimate of
the value of all tools used by the subsistence farmer is about US$130.
For the commercial farmer in the United States equipment is a major investment.
Steve Murphy estimates that the cost of all his equipment used in farming approximates
$750,000. It requires a specialized farm shop for maintenance and several buildings to
protect the equipment from rain and snow.
The equipment used by the commercial farmer in the United States is designed to
reduce labor to the minimum. The tractor used for planting in Figure 10.10 is equipped
with a satellite-guided steering system to automatically guide the tractor and planter
from one end of the field to the other. The planter uses suction to pick up individual
seeds and drop them at precisely spaced intervals and preset depths with minimum dis-
turbance of the soil. This combination will plant all day long without missing rows or
seeds to give the optimum plant spacing. It does all this with only one person. Each item
of equipment requires training in its use and calibration. For example, the satellite-
guided self-steering tractor needs at least 1 hour of introductory training for a person
to use it. Operation of the combine harvester needs several hours to learn the needed
adjustments of the cutter-head and sieves. The integrated computer must also be cali-
brated and data downloaded after harvest.
A grain combine that costs over $230,000 has a 340-hp engine, harvests about
9 m wide of maize or wheat, has air conditioning, a stereo radio, and several
computers to monitor functions and record grain yield, moisture, and protein
content.
