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Comment by happyopossum | Hacker News Reader

> Precision tech helps reduce operator fatigue and increases efficiency with respect to equipment operation time and material used

That’s the kind of MBA speak a giant corporate food production facility loves to hear, but not a farmer.

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That's untrue. I know a farmer, who buys a John Deere combine before harvest. It stays unused until his harvests are done, and returns it by end of harvest season incurring $30k on this entire transaction. Why does he do that? Because he has two weeks to finish up harvesting or start incurring losses on his harvest. Farmer does care about saving costs/losses AND getting the job done in time.

That's interesting, why don't farmers run some sort of common reserve pools of vehicles, as a form of insurance?

The trouble is they all need them at the same time. In the UK you will see farmers in a break in the weather, all out testing the moisture in the wheat. As soon as it is right it is all hands to get it in on every farm before it rains again!

There are farmers who join agricultural co-ops to do similar things. I've seen few operate differently - the co-op owns the machines and maintains a bunch of operators. These are requested by farmers who want work done - spraying, tilling, harvesting, etc.

Your entire anecdote is based on availability and not ROI/efficiency. Your farmer friend buys a combine (which is not a tractor - very different usage patterns and requirements) because he needs one for a very specific period during harvest.

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