The number of days available to complete land-based agricultural activities influences decisions about inputs, such as variety/hybrid planted and pesticide used, and machinery. The limited fieldwork days available for completing crucial tasks -- such as tillage, planting and harvest -- require careful management

Carpenter, Brent

Gerlt, Scott

Massey, Raymond E., 1957-

University of Missouri: MOspace

extension.missouri.edu > agriculture > agricultural business > risk management > g362AGRICULTURE■ ,VVXHG LQ IXUWKHUDQFH RI WKH&RRSHUDWLYH([WHQVLRQ:RUN$FWV RI0D\  DQG-XQH LQFRRSHUDWLRQZLWK WKH8QLWHG6WDWHV'HSDUWPHQWRI$JULFXOWXUH'LUHFWRU&RRSHUDWLYH([WHQVLRQ8QLYHUVLW\RI0LVVRXUL&ROXPELD02■DQHTXDORSSRUWXQLW\$'$LQVWLWXWLRQ■■H[WHQVLRQPLVVRXULHGXDays Suitable for Fieldwork in MissouriThe number of days available to complete land-based agricultural activities influences decisions about inputs, such as variety/hybrid planted and pesticide used, and machinery. The limited fieldwork days available for completing crucial tasks — such as tillage, planting and harvest — require careful management.A large machinery complement will complete fieldwork quickly but can increase ownership costs. A small machinery complement may have lower ownership costs but may also delay some key activities that affect productivity. The size of machinery needed to efficiently complete the necessary activities depends on how many days the machinery can actually be used in the field.The Missouri Agricultural Statistics Service (MASS) reports the number of days each week that soil and moisture conditions are suitable for fieldwork. These data start around the first week of April. This start date leaves a gap in fieldwork days data when important field operations such as fertilizer application and early corn planting occur.Average number of days suitable  for fieldworkFigure 1 shows the distribution of fieldwork days for the 61-calendar-day periods of April–May and September–October. Use the graph by selecting the number of days that you would like to have available for fieldwork. Draw a straight line up. When your line intersects either the April–May or September–October plots, draw a straight line left to the axis labeled “Probability.” The result is the percentage of time that you could expect the desired number of fieldwork days to be available. For example, 35 fieldwork days or more occur about 30 percent of the time during the April–May period. That means that 70 percent of the time you will not have the 35 fieldwork days you want.Table 1 summarizes the average number of weekly fieldwork days from 1977 to 2015 in each of the nine MASS reporting districts. The actual number of suitable fieldwork days varies considerably from year to year. Estimates are for seven-day workweeks. If fieldwork will not be done every day of the week, adjust the data by multiplying by the fraction of the week that will be worked, such as 6⁄7 or 0.857 for a six-day workweek. Figure 2 shows the weekly averages for each district with a trend line to smooth out the weekly variability.Calculating machinery needsAfter you have found the average number of days that you can expect to be able to perform fieldwork, the minimum necessary daily machinery capacity can be computed. The formulas for this computation areacres worked per day =   acres ÷ days suitable for fieldwork acres worked per hour =   acres per day ÷ working hours per day For example, in southeast Missouri between April 3 and April 17, you can expect 6.1 days (3.0 + 3.1 days, from Table 1) suitable for fieldwork during that two-week period. If you have 1,000 acres of corn to plant, you need to be able to plant 164 acres per day (1,000 ÷ 6.1) to finish within two weeks under average circumstances. If the planter can be operated 14 hours per day, a planter large enough to plant 11.7 acres an hour (164 acres ÷ 14 hours) is needed. Because these data are annual averages, the above example implicitly assumes a completion rate of about 50 percent. This means that in about half the years, less than 1,000 acres will be planted in the two-week period when planting at 11.7 acres an hour. This level of risk may not be acceptable to all operators.Written byRay Massey, Extension Professor, Commercial Agriculture ProgramBrent Carpenter, Agricultural Business Specialist, West Central RegionScott Gerlt, Program Leader, U.S. Crop Market and Policy Analysis, MU Food and Agricultural Policy Research InstituteNumber of fieldwork days0                  10                20                30                40                50                60100%90%80%70%60%50%40%30%20%10%0%ProbabilityApril – May                       Sept. – Oct.Figure 1. Probability of weather favoring completion of fieldwork in Missouri within a specified number of days during an April–May period and a September–October period.Achive versio --See exteion.missouri.edug362 University of Missouri Extensionpage 2NWSWCWCNENCECSESCMissouri Agricultural Statistics  Service  reporting districts.Online tools for farmersSeveral online tools using the days-suitable-for-fieldwork data are available to help farmers make informed decisions.A spreadsheet calculator called Probable Fieldwork Days Model can be downloaded from the Spreadsheet Tools section of the University of Missouri Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) website at http://fapri.missouri.edu/farmers-corner. This calculator — and its accompanying guide, MU Extension publication G363, Fieldwork Days and Machinery Capacity — helps farmers refine machinery size decisions and evaluate the chance of inadequate time to complete fieldwork. The calculator computes the probability that work can be completed for specific cropping activities during defined time periods in any region of the state. Users can quantify how a change in machinery size or crop acreage affects the risk of not completing the work. An online interactive tool called Corn Split Nitrogen Application is accessible from the Decision Support Tools section of the Useful to Usable (U2U) project’s website at https://mygeohub.org/groups/u2u/tools. This tool combines the fieldwork days data with a corn growth model and weather information to estimate the probability of successfully implementing a post-planting nitrogen application for corn production.For further informationEdwards, William. 2015. Farm Machinery Selection. Ag Decision Maker File A3-28. Iowa State University. http://extension.iastate.edu/agdm/crops/html/a3-28.html.Hanna, Mark. 2016. Estimating Field Capacity of Farm Machines. Ag Decision Maker File A3-24. Iowa State University. http://extension.iastate.edu/agdm/crops/html/a3-24.html.Table 1. Average number of days per week for fieldwork in Missouri.Week beginningMissouri Agricultural Statistics Service reporting districts Missouri stateNW NC NE WC C EC SW SC SEMar 27 3.6 1.4 0.9 2.6 2.4 1.7 4.0 4.3 3.4 2.9Apr 03 3.3 2.5 2.5 3.2 3.0 2.6 4.1 4.1 3.0 3.0Apr 10 3.4 3.0 2.9 3.3 3.4 2.9 4.3 4.2 3.1 3.3Apr 17 3.3 3.1 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.3 4.1 4.3 3.4 3.4Apr 24 3.0 2.7 2.8 3.3 3.3 3.3 4.4 4.3 3.6 3.4May 01 3.3 2.9 2.7 3.3 3.3 3.3 4.2 4.1 3.5 3.3May 08 3.0 2.7 2.8 2.9 3.3 3.3 4.1 4.1 3.2 3.1May 15 3.2 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.6 3.5 4.3 4.2 3.6 3.4May 22 3.7 3.2 3.3 3.3 3.5 3.6 4.1 4.2 4.0 3.6May 29 3.5 3.3 3.5 3.4 3.7 4.0 4.1 4.5 4.2 3.7Jun 05 3.5 3.4 3.4 3.4 4.0 3.9 4.4 4.5 4.4 3.8Jun 12 4.0 3.8 3.9 3.9 4.2 4.3 4.7 4.8 4.7 4.2Jun 19 4.3 3.8 3.9 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.7 5.0 4.8 4.2Jun 26 4.3 4.3 4.7 4.5 4.7 4.8 5.2 5.4 5.3 4.7Jul 03 4.7 4.5 4.9 4.6 4.9 5.0 5.0 5.4 5.1 4.9Jul 10 4.9 4.9 5.0 4.9 5.2 5.1 5.4 5.5 5.1 5.1Jul 17 4.9 4.8 4.9 5.0 5.1 5.1 5.7 5.7 5.2 5.1Jul 24 5.2 5.2 5.3 5.6 5.6 5.5 6.0 5.8 5.6 5.5Jul 31 5.1 4.9 5.1 5.4 5.4 5.2 5.8 5.8 5.5 5.3Aug 07 5.1 4.9 5.2 5.2 5.3 5.2 5.8 5.7 5.0 5.2Aug 14 5.4 5.3 5.3 5.7 5.8 5.5 6.1 6.0 5.7 5.6Aug 21 5.0 4.9 5.4 5.4 5.4 5.5 6.0 5.9 5.8 5.4Aug 28 5.1 5.0 5.1 5.5 5.5 5.5 6.1 6.0 6.0 5.5Sep 04 5.2 5.2 5.4 5.3 5.5 5.5 5.9 5.9 5.7 5.5Sep 11 5.3 5.2 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.4 5.9 5.9 5.6 5.5Sep 18 5.0 5.0 5.3 5.1 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.7 5.7 5.3Sep 25 4.8 4.5 4.9 4.9 5.1 5.2 5.4 5.7 5.3 5.0Oct 02 5.1 5.0 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.0 5.6 5.6 5.1 5.2Oct 09 5.1 5.0 5.1 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.7 5.8 5.7 5.3Oct 16 5.2 4.9 4.9 4.9 4.9 5.0 5.4 5.4 5.1 5.0Oct 23 4.7 4.5 4.8 4.7 4.8 4.8 5.3 5.5 4.6 4.8Oct 30 4.5 4.4 4.6 4.5 4.7 4.6 5.1 5.1 4.3 4.6Nov 06 4.3 4.0 4.4 4.2 4.3 4.3 4.7 4.8 4.3 4.3Nov 13 4.2 3.9 4.1 4.3 4.4 4.2 4.8 4.9 4.3 4.3Nov 20 4.2 3.9 4.0 3.9 4.0 3.7 4.7 4.6 3.7 4.0Nov 27 3.5 3.0 3.1 3.0 3.0 2.7 3.8 3.9 3.4 3.2Dec 04 4.0 2.8 2.5 2.9 2.5 1.8 2.9 3.3 1.8 2.7Dec 11 2.8 2.2 2.5 2.1 2.1 2.3 3.1 3.1 2.2 2.4Period Missouri Agricultural Statistics Service reporting districts Missouri stateFrom To NW NC NE WC C EC SW SC SEMar 27 Jun 5 3.3 2.9 2.8 3.2 3.3 3.2 4.2 4.3 3.6 3.4Jun 5 Aug 28 4.7 4.6 4.8 4.9 5.0 5.0 5.4 5.5 5.2 4.9Aug 28 Nov 20 4.8 4.7 4.9 4.9 5.0 4.9 5.4 5.5 5.0 4.9g362 University of Missouri Extensionpage 3Figure 2. Average number of days per week suitable for fieldwork in Missouri, by Missouri Agricultural Statistics Service reporting districts.  (Continued on next page)Missouri stateWeek beginningNumber of fieldwork days 6543210Mar 27Apr 17May 08May 29Jun 19Jul 10Jul 31Aug 21Sep 11Oct 02Oct 23Nov 13NWWeek beginningNumber of fieldwork days 6543210Mar 27Apr 17May 08May 29Jun 19Jul 10Jul 31Aug 21Sep 11Oct 02Oct 23Nov 13NCWeek beginningNumber of fieldwork days 6543210Mar 27Apr 17May 08May 29Jun 19Jul 10Jul 31Aug 21Sep 11Oct 02Oct 23Nov 13NEWeek beginningNumber of fieldwork days 6543210Mar 27Apr 17May 08May 29Jun 19Jul 10Jul 31Aug 21Sep 11Oct 02Oct 23Nov 13WCWeek beginningNumber of fieldwork days 6543210Mar 27Apr 17May 08May 29Jun 19Jul 10Jul 31Aug 21Sep 11Oct 02Oct 23Nov 13CWeek beginningNumber of fieldwork days 6543210Mar 27Apr 17May 08May 29Jun 19Jul 10Jul 31Aug 21Sep 11Oct 02Oct 23Nov 13ECWeek beginningNumber of fieldwork days 6543210Mar 27Apr 17May 08May 29Jun 19Jul 10Jul 31Aug 21Sep 11Oct 02Oct 23Nov 13page 4ALSO FROM MU EXTENSION PUBLICATIONSG363 Fieldwork Days and Machinery CapacityG9350 Missouri Weather Patterns and Their Impact on AgricultureIPM1033 Missouri Frost/Freeze Probabilities Guideextension.missouri.edu  |  800-292-0969g362 New 9/07; Revised 10/16/WebFigure 2 (continued)SWWeek beginningNumber of fieldwork days 6543210Mar 27Apr 17May 08May 29Jun 19Jul 10Jul 31Aug 21Sep 11Oct 02Oct 23Nov 13SCWeek beginningNumber of fieldwork days 6543210Mar 27Apr 17May 08May 29Jun 19Jul 10Jul 31Aug 21Sep 11Oct 02Oct 23Nov 13SEWeek beginningNumber of fieldwork days 6543210Mar 27Apr 17May 08May 29Jun 19Jul 10Jul 31Aug 21Sep 11Oct 02Oct 23Nov 13

Days suitable for fieldwork in Missouri (2016)

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