particular farm size. For example, economies of size in average machinery investment are more
evident across the range of farm sizes for the no-till system. The list price for the 36-foot no-till
air seeder budgeted for the 2,560-acre farm is 2.6 times as much as the 20-foot no-till drill
budgeted for the 1,280-acre farm. However, the list price for the 36-foot conventional till air
seeder budgeted for the 2,560-acre conventional tillage farm is more than four times as much as
the list price for the 20-foot conventional till drill selected for the 1,280-acre conventional tillage
farm. This difference explains much of the relative difference in size economies across the two
production systems when the farm size increases from 1,280 to 2,560 acres.
Machinery fixed costs (depreciation, insurance, interest on average investment, and
taxes) for both systems across the four farm sizes are included in Table 5 and graphed in Figure
2. The estimates are very similar across the 320, 640, 1,280, and 2,560-acre farm sizes. They
range from $25 to $35 per acre for the conventional tillage farms and from $16 to $28 per acre
for the no-till farms. For the four farms the estimated difference in machinery fixed costs
between conventional tillage and no-till range from $6 to $12 per acre. Machinery fixed costs
savings are greater for the two large farms. The no-till air seeder budgeted for the 2,560-acre
farm costs only 30% more than the conventional air seeder budgeted for the conventional farm.
The chart in Figure 2 illustrates the potential economies of size in machinery fixed costs per acre
especially for the no-till production systems.
Labor requirements to conduct the budgeted machinery operations are reported in Table
5. The only machine operation budgeted for the no-till 320 and 640-acre farms is the use of the
no-till drill. For these farms, herbicide, insecticide, and fertilizer are assumed to be custom
applied. Based upon these assumptions and the machines selected, the total annual machinery
labor requirement would be 93 hours for the 320-acre no-till farm and 90 hours for the 640-acre