Highlights Small-scale autonomous systems significantly reduce labor requirements, needing only 20% of the operator time compared to conventional systems. The small-scale autonomy complement shows the lowest sensitivity to equipment investment costs from interest rates and maintains a low sensitivity to labor costs due to its lower capital investment and efficient acreage coverage. The small-scale autonomy complement consistently delivers the lowest equivalent annual cost per hectare across all scenarios. Savings from small-scale autonomous systems could fund additional autonomous equipment, potentially doubling acreage capacity while maintaining low labor needs. Abstract. The economic viability of small- and large-scale production platforms in row crop agriculture is increasingly vital as the industry seeks to enhance efficiency and profitability through automation. This study investigates the financial trade-offs of machinery complements tailored to different operational scales, with a focus on integrating supervised autonomy. A comprehensive economic model was developed to estimate the equivalent annual costs of small conventional systems, large conventional systems, small autonomous systems, and large autonomous row crop production systems in North American markets, accounting for key variables such as interest rates, labor rates, and energy costs, and the overall equipment cost sensitivity to these economic fluctuations. The analysis also evaluates potential cost savings from autonomy that could be reinvested to further enhance productivity and reduce reliance on manual labor. Findings reveal that the autonomous complement consistently achieves the lowest per-hectare costs and exhibits the least sensitivity to rising interest, labor, and fuel expenses, driven by its reduced labor requirements and efficient acreage coverage. The small autonomous equipment saves 30/ha over the small conventional equipment, the large conventional equipment by 49/ha, and the large autonomous equipment by 37/ha. In contrast, large-scale systems face greater cost impacts from interest rate increases, while small-scale systems are more vulnerable to labor cost fluctuations. These results underscore the economic advantages of autonomous systems, offering farmers actionable insights to achieve sustainable, cost-effective, and scalable agricultural practices. Keywords: Agricultural equipment, Autonomy, Economics, Machinery Selection.
Dean et al. (Thu,) studied this question.