Home
How It Works
More Illustrations of the
4 row harvester
Determining the cost of
mechanically harvesting asparagus
The Challenges of machine
harvesting asparagus
Meeting the challenges and
solving the problems
Sample Cost-of-Harvesting
Spreadsheets
How Much Money Can
I
Make Using a Machine To Harvest My Crop?
Machine Specifications
New Design Improvements
Asparagus harvester movie clips
Pictures of Asparagus Fields
Other Asparagus Harvesters (My competition)
Links
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Green Asparagus Machine
Harvesting Costs This spread sheet based on:
48" centers, 1.75 mph,
16 hours per day, 50 cuttings/season. Scroll down for
more examples
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Selective Asparagus Harvester Costs of Operation |
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Assumptions and Conditions |
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Machine Cost |
125,000.00 |
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$/machine |
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Financed (80% of Cost) |
100,000.00 |
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$/machine |
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Financing (5 yrs @ 7.5%) |
24,716.47 |
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$/year |
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Owner financing (5 yrs @ 8.5%) |
6,344.14 |
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$/year |
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Maintenance |
5,000.00 |
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$/machine/season |
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Driver |
15.00 |
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$/hour |
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Packer |
10.00 |
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$/hour |
1 Acre = 43560 sq ft. = 208.7' x 208.7' |
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Fuel |
3.00 |
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$/gal |
Divide width by row centers to find # of rows |
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Mileage |
5.00 |
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mpg |
52.18 |
rows |
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Speed |
1.75 |
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mph |
x row length & divide by 5280 to get miles |
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Operation |
16.00 |
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hours/day |
2.06 |
miles/acre |
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Row centers |
48.00 |
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inches |
3.39 |
acres/hour |
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Cuttings |
50.00 |
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cut days/season |
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# of rows |
4.00 |
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rows |
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Results |
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Acres/mile |
0.48 |
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Acres/mile |
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Acres/hour |
3.39 |
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Acres/hour |
Acres/hour = mph x Acres/mile x 3 rows |
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Acres/day |
54.31 |
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Acres/day |
Acres/day = acres/hour x hours/day |
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(Hectares/day) |
21.99 |
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Costs per day |
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Labor costs |
400.00 |
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Driver and packer costs x hours/day |
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Fuel costs |
67.20 |
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$/day = (1/(mpg x acres/mile)) x acres/day x $/gal |
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Purchasing |
494.33 |
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Annual financing/number of days |
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Owner Investment costs |
126.88 |
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Annual owner financing/number of days |
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Maintenance |
100.00 |
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Maint per year/number of days |
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Total |
1,188.41 |
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Total/acre |
21.88 |
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Total/hectare |
8.86 |
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Total Season Machine Harvesting Cost Per Acre |
$1,094.13 |
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2702.51 |
Cost per Hectare |
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Machine Yield(lbs/acre) |
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kg/hectare |
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Cost Per Pound |
Cost per kg. |
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3000 |
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16339.05 |
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$ 0.36 |
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0.17 |
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3200 |
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17428.32 |
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$ 0.34 |
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0.16 |
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3400 |
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18517.59 |
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$ 0.32 |
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0.15 |
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3600 |
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19606.86 |
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$ 0.30 |
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0.14 |
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3800 |
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20696.13 |
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$ 0.29 |
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0.13 |
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4000 |
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21785.4 |
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$ 0.27 |
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0.12 |
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4200 |
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22874.67 |
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$ 0.26 |
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0.12 |
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4400 |
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23963.94 |
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$ 0.25 |
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0.11 |
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4600 |
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25053.21 |
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$ 0.24 |
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0.11 |
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4800 |
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26142.48 |
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$ 0.23 |
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0.10 |
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5000 |
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27231.75 |
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$ 0.22 |
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0.10 |
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5200 |
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28321.02 |
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$ 0.21 |
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0.10 |
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5400 |
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29410.29 |
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$ 0.20 |
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0.09 |
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5600 |
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30499.56 |
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$ 0.20 |
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0.09 |
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54 inch centers, 2 mph, 20 hours per day,
50 cuttings/season
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Selective Asparagus Harvester Costs of Operation |
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Assumptions and Conditions |
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Machine Cost |
125,000.00 |
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$/machine |
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Financed (80% of Cost) |
100,000.00 |
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$/machine |
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Financing (5 yrs @ 7.5%) |
24,716.47 |
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$/year |
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Owner financing (5 yrs @ 8.5%) |
6,344.14 |
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$/year |
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Maintenance |
5,000.00 |
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$/machine/season |
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Driver |
15.00 |
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$/hour |
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Packer |
10.00 |
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$/hour |
1 Acre = 43560 sq ft. = 208.7' x 208.7' |
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Fuel |
3.00 |
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$/gal |
Divide width by row centers to find # of rows |
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Mileage |
5.00 |
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mpg |
46.38 |
rows |
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Speed |
2.00 |
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mph |
x row length & divide by 5280 to get miles |
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Operation |
20.00 |
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hours/day |
1.83 |
miles/acre |
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Row centers |
54.00 |
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inches |
4.36 |
acres/hour |
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Cuttings |
50.00 |
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cut days/season |
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# of rows |
4.00 |
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rows |
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Results |
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Acres/mile |
0.55 |
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Acres/mile |
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Acres/hour |
4.36 |
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Acres/hour |
Acres/hour = mph x Acres/mile x 3 rows |
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Acres/day |
87.28 |
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Acres/day |
Acres/day = acres/hour x hours/day |
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(Hectares/day) |
35.34 |
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Costs per day |
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Labor costs |
500.00 |
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Driver and packer costs x hours/day |
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Fuel costs |
96.00 |
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$/day = (1/(mpg x acres/mile)) x acres/day x $/gal |
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Purchasing |
494.33 |
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Annual financing/number of days |
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Owner Investment costs |
126.88 |
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Annual owner financing/number of days |
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Maintenance |
100.00 |
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Maint per year/number of days |
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Total |
1,317.21 |
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Total/acre |
15.09 |
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Total/hectare |
6.11 |
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Total Season Machine Harvesting Cost Per Acre |
$754.58 |
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1863.81 |
Cost per Hectare |
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Machine Yield(lbs/acre) |
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kg/hectare |
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Cost Per Pound |
Cost per kg. |
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3000 |
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16339.05 |
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$ 0.25 |
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0.11 |
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3200 |
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17428.32 |
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$ 0.24 |
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0.11 |
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3400 |
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18517.59 |
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$ 0.22 |
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0.10 |
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3600 |
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19606.86 |
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$ 0.21 |
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0.10 |
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3800 |
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20696.13 |
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$ 0.20 |
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0.09 |
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4000 |
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21785.4 |
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$ 0.19 |
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0.09 |
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4200 |
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22874.67 |
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$ 0.18 |
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0.08 |
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4400 |
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23963.94 |
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$ 0.17 |
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0.08 |
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4600 |
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25053.21 |
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$ 0.16 |
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0.07 |
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4800 |
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26142.48 |
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$ 0.16 |
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0.07 |
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5000 |
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27231.75 |
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$ 0.15 |
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0.07 |
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5200 |
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28321.02 |
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$ 0.15 |
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0.07 |
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5400 |
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29410.29 |
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$ 0.14 |
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0.06 |
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5600 |
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30499.56 |
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$ 0.13 |
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0.06 |
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40" centers, 1.5
MPH, 16 hour day, 60 cuttings/season
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Selective Asparagus Harvester Costs of Operation |
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Assumptions and Conditions |
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Machine Cost |
125,000.00 |
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$/machine |
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Financed (80% of Cost) |
100,000.00 |
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$/machine |
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Financing (5 yrs @ 7.5%) |
24,716.47 |
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$/year |
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Owner financing (5 yrs @ 8.5%) |
6,344.14 |
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$/year |
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Maintenance |
5,000.00 |
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$/machine/season |
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Driver |
15.00 |
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$/hour |
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Packer |
10.00 |
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$/hour |
1 Acre = 43560 sq ft. = 208.7' x 208.7' |
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Fuel |
3.00 |
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$/gal |
Divide width by row centers to find # of rows |
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Mileage |
5.00 |
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mpg |
62.61 |
rows |
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Speed |
1.50 |
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mph |
x row length & divide by 5280 to get miles |
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Operation |
16.00 |
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hours/day |
2.47 |
miles/acre |
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Row centers |
40.00 |
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inches |
2.42 |
acres/hour |
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Cuttings |
60.00 |
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cut days/season |
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# of rows |
4.00 |
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rows |
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Results |
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Acres/mile |
0.40 |
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Acres/mile |
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Acres/hour |
2.42 |
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Acres/hour |
Acres/hour = mph x Acres/mile x 3 rows |
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Acres/day |
38.79 |
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Acres/day |
Acres/day = acres/hour x hours/day |
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(Hectares/day) |
15.71 |
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Costs per day |
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Labor costs |
400.00 |
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Driver and packer costs x hours/day |
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Fuel costs |
57.60 |
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$/day = (1/(mpg x acres/mile)) x acres/day x $/gal |
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Purchasing |
411.94 |
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Annual financing/number of days |
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Owner Investment costs |
105.74 |
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Annual owner financing/number of days |
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Maintenance |
83.33 |
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Maint per year/number of days |
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Total |
1,058.61 |
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Total/acre |
27.29 |
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Total/hectare |
11.05 |
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Total Season Machine Harvesting Cost Per Acre |
$1,637.38 |
|
4044.32 |
Cost per Hectare |
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Machine Yield(lbs/acre) |
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kg/hectare |
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Cost Per Pound |
Cost per kg. |
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3000 |
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16339.05 |
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$ 0.55 |
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0.25 |
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|
3200 |
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|
17428.32 |
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$ 0.51 |
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0.23 |
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|
3400 |
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|
18517.59 |
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$ 0.48 |
|
0.22 |
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|
3600 |
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|
19606.86 |
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$ 0.45 |
|
0.21 |
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|
3800 |
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20696.13 |
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$ 0.43 |
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0.20 |
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|
4000 |
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21785.4 |
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$ 0.41 |
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0.19 |
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|
4200 |
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22874.67 |
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$ 0.39 |
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0.18 |
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|
4400 |
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23963.94 |
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$ 0.37 |
|
0.17 |
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4600 |
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25053.21 |
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$ 0.36 |
|
0.16 |
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4800 |
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26142.48 |
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$ 0.34 |
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0.15 |
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5000 |
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|
27231.75 |
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$ 0.33 |
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0.15 |
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5200 |
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28321.02 |
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$ 0.31 |
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0.14 |
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5400 |
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29410.29 |
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$ 0.30 |
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0.14 |
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5600 |
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30499.56 |
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$ 0.29 |
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0.13 |
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70" centers, 20 hours/day, 1.5
MPH, 50 cuttings/season
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Selective Asparagus Harvester Costs of Operation |
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Assumptions and Conditions |
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Machine Cost |
125,000.00 |
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$/machine |
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Financed (80% of Cost) |
100,000.00 |
|
$/machine |
|
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|
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|
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|
Financing (5 yrs @ 7.5%) |
24,716.47 |
|
$/year |
|
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|
|
|
|
Owner financing (5 yrs @ 8.5%) |
6,344.14 |
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$/year |
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Maintenance |
5,000.00 |
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$/machine/season |
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Driver |
15.00 |
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$/hour |
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Packer |
10.00 |
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$/hour |
1 Acre = 43560 sq ft. = 208.7' x 208.7' |
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Fuel |
3.00 |
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$/gal |
Divide width by row centers to find # of rows |
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Mileage |
5.00 |
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mpg |
35.78 |
rows |
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Speed |
1.50 |
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mph |
x row length & divide by 5280 to get miles |
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Operation |
20.00 |
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hours/day |
1.41 |
miles/acre |
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