THERE is an opportunity to make considerable machinery cost savings on most farms, but these need to be planned and achievable in the medium term, at least.

John Bailey, TAG machinery consultant, told the recent Arable Outlook conference at Scotch Corner that, collectively, tractors could be the most expensive item on a farm.

"There should generally be no more tractors than people to drive them," he said. "Tractors are used every day of the year in almost every operation and so need to be of the right size and reliability to suit the farm."

In some cases it could make good economic sense to hire extra tractors during autumn.

"Not surprisingly, as it is the culmination of the growing year, there tends to be an unnecessary 'over insurance' on combines," he said. "Few combines do over 300 hours a year and many less than 200 hours. It is realistic to budget on 300 hours per harvest for a good spread of crops in eastern England."

Their operating costs commonly varied between £38 and £75 a hectare (£15-£30 an acre). A well used, brand new, large combine was capable of working at £44/ha (£18/acre).

Reducing the cost and times of establishing cereals was crucial to make it possible to establish more acres with the same number, or even fewer, staff. An average cereal establishment cost of £100-plus per ha and a time of 100 minutes per ha for a plough system just could not be afforded.

"Cost is intermingled and inseparable from establishment times, the number of cultivation passes, the number of regular full-time staff involved and the number of tractors required," said Mr Bailey.

"Accepting more minimal, usually non-ploughing techniques, on at least a proportion of the acreage is a must."

Each piece of machinery had to be considered in the long term to compare the farm's need with the potential seasonal output, in the hope of lowering operating costs.

Most machinery was now much better built than even just a few years ago. "Some farmers prefer to buy a higher output, wider, second-hand machine such as a 6m drill compared to a 4m drill," said Mr Bailey, "This may fit in better with their overall workload and labour."

Judgements had to be made.

Comparing machines on the difference between operating costs on an acreage basis might be very little. "Over the thousands of acres a self-propelled sprayer may be only 40p/ha more than a trailed sprayer and some may consider this to be a worthwhile extra cost," he said. "But when it comes to priorities for the money, a self-propelled machine may cost £65-£70,000 new compared to £30-£35,000 for a trailed sprayer, making quite a difference to a pressing cash flow crisis.

"It would be quite possible to buy second-hand, bringing the operating cost down to less than a new trailed sprayer."

On replacing machinery, Mr Bailey encouraged farmers to try to plan and budget ahead over a five-year period, aiming for a steady reinvestment of £70/ha/year net of trade ins for a mainly cereal farm.

"It is a challenging time but some real economies can, and are, being made especially within the area of fixed costs," he said. "Autumn cultivations are the hub of a combinable crops farm, dictating the labour required, and the number and size of tractors.

"There are enormous opportunities to save time and cost, without prejudicing yield and, hopefully, at the same time making life a little bit easier! This is the challenge ahead of us in the arable sector."