This paper investigates the Maximum Acquisition Values (MAVs) of weeding robots and their determinants in both organic and conventional sugar beet farming in Germany. The MAV is defined in this paper as the price of the weeding robot that renders the same net profit as the current weeding methods. For our analysis, a Monte Carlo simulation approach is used, combined with empirical data and data collected from weeding robot companies. The results show that the MAVs of mechanical weeding robots for organic farming are substantially higher than that of spot spraying robots for conventional farming. Technology attributes are more influential than labour cost in determining the MAVs of weeding robots: in organic farming, technology attributes such as area capacity and weeding efficiency impact the MAVs of mechanical weeding robots the most; in conventional farming, supervision intensity and the robot’s ability to save herbicides are the most influential factors. The wage rate of unskilled labour, relevant for manual weeding, plays a more important role in determining the MAVs than that of skilled labour, relevant for supervision of the robot. This implies that a shortage of seasonal workers and hence increases in the wage of low-skilled labour could be important drivers of the adoption of mechanical weeding robots. Plot characteristics such as plot size and mechanisation level only have limited impacts on the MAVs.

本文研究了德国有机和传统甜菜种植中除草机器人的最大采集值 (MAV) 及其决定因素。本文将MAV定义为与当前除草方法具有相同净利润的除草机器人的价格。在我们的分析中，使用蒙特卡罗模拟方法，结合经验数据和从除草机器人公司收集的数据。结果表明，用于有机农业的机械除草机器人的MAV大大高于用于传统农业的点喷机器人的MAV。在决定除草机器人MAV方面，技术属性比劳动力成本影响更大：在有机农业中，面积容量和除草效率等技术属性对机械除草机器人MAV的影响最大；在传统农业中，监管强度和机器人节省除草剂的能力是影响最大的因素。与手工除草相关的非熟练工人的工资率在确定 MAV 方面比与机器人监督相关的熟练工人的工资率发挥着更重要的作用。这意味着季节性工人的短缺以及低技能劳动力工资的增加可能是采用机械除草机器人的重要驱动力。地块大小和机械化水平等地块特征对 MAV 的影响有限。