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I am incredibly ignorant of this market but I'm struggling to figure out the value of replacing a $100k/yr tractor driver in relation to the overall margins fro

I am incredibly ignorant of this market but I'm struggling to figure out the value of replacing a $100k/yr tractor driver in relation to the overall margins from acres worked?... I mean. a tractor doesn't need to drive the acreage year round. The food produced per acre seems like a lot.. I'm guessing a tractor works a field a couple times a year? so 10% or less of a $100k/yr salary?.. Is this really worth it? A cross-country truck driver is limited to the amunt of cargo it can haul, and is needed constantly. I get the value there. I must be missing something on farm tractors..

nine_k 5y ago
A tractor can do other things beside plowing and seeding. Some cultures are unlike wheat and require, or benefit from, more care during vegetation. Also, the tractor can probably harvest some cultures. Farther south, several crops per year can be taken, possibly of different cultures on the same land. The tractor can work 24/7. This is very important during certain seasons when the windows of beneficial weather are small, and the effect of the conditions at that day on the whole crop is outsized. I suspect tractor operators are in short supply during such season. I can see how a robotic tractor may feel more dependable than skilled seasonal labor.
bluGill 5y ago
Where can you find someone to drive a tractor when you need it and not need to be paid the rest of the year 'when you need a driver so do all the.other farmers. When you don't nobody else in your area does either.