Field size and shape constrain spatial and temporal management of agriculture with implications for farm profitability, field biodiversity and environmental performance. Large, conventional equipment struggles to farm small, irregularly shaped fields efficiently. The study hypothesized that autonomous crop machines would make it possible to farm small, non-rectangular fields profitably, thereby preserving field biodiversity and other environmental benefits. Using the experience of the Hands Free Hectare (HFH) demonstration project, this study developed algorithms to estimate field times (h/ha) and field efficiency (%) subject to field size and shape in grain-oil-seed farms of the United Kingdom using four different equipment sets. Results show that field size and shape had a substantial impact on technical and economic performance of all equipment sets, but autonomous machines were able to farm small 1 ha rectangular and non-rectangular fields profitably. Small fields with equipment of all sizes and types required more time, but for HFH equipment sets field size and shape had least impact. Solutions of HFH linear programming model show that autonomous machines decreased wheat production cost by €15/ton to €29/ton and €24/ton to €46/ton for small rectangular and non-rectangular fields respectively, but larger 112 kW and 221 kW equipment with human operators was not profitable for small fields. Sensitivity testing shows that the farms using autonomous machines adapted easily and profitably to scenarios with increasing wage rates and reduced labour availability, whilst farms with conventional equipment struggled. Technical and economic feasibility in small fields imply that autonomous machines could facilitate biodiversity and improve environmental performance.

田地的大小和形状限制了农业的空间和时间管理，对农场盈利能力、田地生物多样性和环境绩效产生影响。大型传统设备很难有效地耕种形状不规则的小田地。该研究假设，自主作物机器将使小型非矩形田地的耕种变得有利可图，从而保护田地生物多样性和其他环境效益。利用免提公顷 (HFH) 示范项目的经验，本研究开发了算法，根据英国粮油种子农场的田地大小和形状来估计田间时间 (h/ha) 和田间效率 (%)使用四套不同的设备。结果表明，田地的大小和形状对所有设备组的技术和经济性能都有重大影响，但自主机器能够耕种 1 公顷的矩形和非矩形小田地并有利可图。配备各种尺寸和类型设备的小型田地需要更多时间，但对于 HFH 设备组来说，田地尺寸和形状影响最小。HFH 线性规划模型的解决方案表明，对于小型矩形和非矩形田地，自动化机器分别将小麦生产成本降低了 15 欧元/吨至 29 欧元/吨和 24 欧元/吨至 46 欧元/吨，但对于较大的 112 kW 和 221 kW对于小型油田来说，配备人工操作员的千瓦设备无法盈利。敏感性测试表明，使用自主机器的农场可以轻松适应工资上涨和劳动力减少的情况，并且可以盈利，而使用传统设备的农场则举步维艰。小田地的技术和经济可行性意味着自主机器可以促进生物多样性并改善环境绩效。