Feasibility of Autonomous Equipment for Biopesticide Application

Since the European Union (EU) ban on neonicotinoid seed treatments in 2013, Cabbage Stem Flea Beetle (CSFB) is a pest with no effective control in the UK and the area sown to OSR has been cut in half. Biopesticides offer one promising approach, but most biopesticides have little residual effect, and consequently must be applied frequently. For a bulk commodity crop like OSR, the margins are tight and the cost of frequent application may make the crop unprofitable. Autonomous equipment could reduce application costs. If farmers own the equipment, the main cost of autonomous application is the original purchase of the machines, the marginal cost of additional applications is small. The objective of this study is to determine under what circumstances use of autonomous equipment for application of biopesticides would be profitable for farmers. The main hypothesis is that biopesticide application with autonomous equipment would be more profitable on farms that already use autonomous equipment for other field operations than on farms with conventional mechanisation. The study adapts the Hands Free Hectare (HFH) farm linear programming model by updating OSR yields and production practices for current CSFB challenges, adding alternative break crops like field beans and linseed, and includes biopesticide application with conventional or autonomous equipment. Initial results suggest that a low cost biopesticide might be profitable for farmers with either conventional or autonomous equipment, the cost of the biopesticide product is a key constraint, and HFH type retrofitted autonomous equipment still requires too much human labour. This study will be of interest to pest management researchers, agri-tech economists, OSR producers, and entrepreneurs developing autonomous farm equipment businesses.