Abstract
The selection of machinery on a dairy farm is the focus of the study. A simulation model is constructed that evaluates alternative forage machinery complements on New York State dairy farms. Attention is focussed on the machinery use, forage crop production and concentrate purchase. The key measure of performance is the total cost of acquiring feed for the dairy herd. The total cost includes the machinery investment and operating costs and the cost of feeds required to supplement that produced on the farm. The simulation model, written in Fortran, utilises a daily timestep. Each day the feasibility of machinery operation is determined, machinery operations are scheduled and the end of day status is determined.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 39-63 |
Number of pages | 25 |
Journal | Agricultural Systems |
Volume | 10 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 1983 |