Browsing by Author "Bruce, Soren Kegan Paul"
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- ItemThe cost implications of technology options for winter cereal production systems in the Swartland(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2017-03) Bruce, Soren Kegan Paul; Hoffmann, Willem H.; Kunneke, Anton; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of AgriSciences. Agricultural Economics.ENGLISH SUMMARY : Global population growth has placed pressure on commercial agriculture to increase food supply, in an environmentally manner. While producers are faced with an increasing cost-price squeeze. Precision agriculture (PA), is emerging as one of the most sustainable agricultural production practices. Revolutionary technological developments have allowed producers to intensify agricultural mechanisation and increase field sizes, by responding to spatial and temporal variations that exist within fields. PA offers a practical, economic and environmental solutions. Increased yields, reduced input costs and more efficient operation times, result in higher profitability. PA has been adopted by a number of commercial grain producers in the Western Cape, to varying degrees and for a number of reasons. Adoption has taken place despite the absence of any policy support framework directed at PA, therefore, has been market driven. Benefits of PA are well documented, while, the financial implications that these benefits have on the farming operation are not. The study utilises primary, trial, and secondary data to analyse the financial implications of various production methods over an extended period. Farm systems are complex, consisting of numerous interrelated components. A whole-farm budget model is developed within a systems approach to measure the impact that improved technologies have on a production system. A trustworthy whole-farm model providing an accurate representation of a real-life farm requires insight across many scientific disciplines. Multidisciplinary approach is used to bridge the gap between practical, on farm, and scientific knowledge. To serve as a basis for comparison, the whole-farm model was based on a conventional typical farm within the Middle Swartland, relative homogeneous farming area. Trial data on systems from Langgewens experimental farm served as starting point for the research. The data was fitted for use in financial analysis and as input to the typical farm model. A key role of the inter-disciplinary approach was to ensure that data and the model design accurately reflect a PA system with its key underlying processes. The financial evaluation of the various production systems showed that conventional agricultural practices, soil tillage and uniform input application, are financially constrained. Conventional practices have high mechanical costs per hectare and are vulnerable to input price fluctuations. PA reduced the mechanical costs of production per hectare, resulting in a more resilient farm operation. Modern production systems, in the long-run, were more resilient to the cost-price squeeze than conventional systems.