Module content
World mechanisation issues; Farm mechanisation development; Developments in farm machinery design and operation; Introduction to farm machinery management, including effective machinery selection and replacement, maximising field performance and managing machinery costs; Introduction to Health and Safety management, including an introduction to management responsibilities and risk assessments.
Module outcomes
To achieve credit for this module, students must be able to:
- Discuss the role and importance of machinery and mechanisation development for world agricultural systems.
- Research and present a review of machinery developments in a specific agricultural sector.
- Discuss the approaches to effective machinery planning, selection and management.
Assessment
| Assessment | Description | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | 2-page Technical Note assessing outcome 2 | 30% |
| Examination | In-class test (1 hour) assessing outcomes 1 and 3 | 70% |
Key texts
Students should be familiar with the content of at least one of the following:
- Hunt, D. (2008). Farm Power and Machinery Management. (10th edition). Waveland Press Inc.
- Landers, A. J. (2000). Farm Machinery: Selection, Investment and Management. Farming Press.
Supporting texts
- Banks, A. and Melves, S.F. (eds.) (2012) Horizons in crop production: precision agriculture and no-till farming. Nova Science.
- Davies, D.B., Eagle, D.J. and Finney, J.B. (2001). Resource Management: Soil. Farming Press.
- Health and Safety Executive (HSE). (2006). Essentials of Health and Safety at Work. (4th edition). HSE.
- Nix, J. (2014) Farm management pocketbook. 45th edn. Agro Business Consultants.
- Stafford, J.V. (ed.) (2015) Precision Agriculture '15. Wageningen Academic Publishers.
- Witney, B (1995) Choosing and using farm machines. Land Technology
- Zhang, Q. and Pierce, F.J. (eds). (2013). Agricultural Automation: Fundamentals and Practices. CRC Press