By collecting more data at a higher resolution and by creating the capacity to implement detailed crop management, autonomous crop equipment has the potential to revolutionise precision agriculture (PA), but unless farmers find autonomous equipment profitable it is unlikely to be widely adopted. The objective of this study was to identify the potential economic implications of autonomous crop equipment for arable agriculture using a grain-oilseed farm in the United Kingdom as an example. The study is possible because the Hands Free Hectare (HFH) demonstration project at Harper Adams University has produced grain with autonomous equipment since 2017. That practical experience showed the technical feasibility of autonomous grain production and provides parameters for farm-level linear programming (LP) to estimate farm management opportunities when autonomous equipment is available. The study shows that arable crop production with autonomous equipment is technically and economically feasible, allowing medium size farms to approach minimum per unit production cost levels. The ability to achieve minimum production costs at relatively modest farm size means that the pressure to “get big or get out” will diminish. Costs of production that are internationally competitive will mean reduced need for government subsidies and greater independence for farmers. The ability of autonomous equipment to achieve minimum production costs even on small, irregularly shaped fields will improve environmental performance of crop agriculture by reducing pressure to remove hedges, fell infield trees and enlarge fields.

通过以更高分辨率收集更多数据并创造实施详细作物管理的能力，自主作物设备有可能彻底改变精准农业 (PA)，但除非农民发现自主设备有利可图，否则它不太可能被广泛采用。本研究的目的是以英国的粮油种子农场为例，确定自主作物设备对耕地农业的潜在经济影响。这项研究之所以成为可能，是因为哈珀亚当斯大学的免提公顷 (HFH) 示范项目自 2017 年以来就使用自动设备生产谷物。这一实践经验表明了自主粮食生产的技术可行性，并为农场级线性规划 (LP) 提供了参数，以在自主设备可用时估计农场管理机会。研究表明，使用自主设备生产可耕种作物在技术上和经济上都是可行的，使中等规模的农场能够接近最低的单位生产成本水平。在相对较小的农场规模下实现最低生产成本的能力意味着“做大或退出”的压力将减少。具有国际竞争力的生产成本将意味着减少对政府补贴的需求并为农民提供更大的独立性。自主设备即使在小型设备上也能实现最低生产成本的能力，