5 ms·

What you could achieve with a driverless tractor is using two smaller ones instead of one big one. Since the driver's effective wage leaves the cost equation, t

by scythe 1y ago

What you could achieve with a driverless tractor is using two smaller ones instead of one big one. Since the driver's effective wage leaves the cost equation, the number of tractors can potentially be much larger. Come to think of it, this might also benefit small landholders eventually by reducing the minimum amount of land required to fund a single tractor.

bluGill 1y ago
I can't figure out how to link, but if you search me you will see elsewhere that I explained that bigger is better for the soil. Most small landholders should sell and move to the city. You need a fair amount of size to make a decent living selling something cheap. Though my biggest worry is the medium sized farmers - wasting $10/acre in extra chemicals when you have 600 acres is only $6000 - you probably won't even notice it and in any case not wasting it costs investment too. When you have 6000 acres though that $10 is a larger number and you can afford to put a lot of money in better whatever to not waste it.
- rangestransform 1y ago
  The American voter is too ideologically attached to the idea of the small family farm and opposed to the big scary boogeyman corporation to support any policy that encourages consolidation of farming and farmers to move to th city
  - bluGill 1y ago
    Not just American - most of Europe is even worse.
- scythe 1y ago
  In order to link, you right-click (or equivalent) on the time stamp of the post, which on your comment currently says "4 hours ago". That creates a link like this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44889842 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44889842 > if you search me you will see elsewhere that I explained that bigger is better for the soil. I read through your argument here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44889514 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44889514 These claims are interesting but I did not find information to substantiate them with a brief search. I did find this: https://mupages.marshall.edu/sites/nexus/2025/01/17/types-of-tractors-and-their-impact-on-soil-compaction/#gsc.tab=0 https://mupages.marshall.edu/sites/nexus/2025/01/17/types-of... > Most small landholders should sell and move to the city. Economically, this has been true for decades irrespective of developments in autonomous vehicles. But city life is miserable, and there will always be people trying to escape it on the farm.

by scythe 1y ago

bluGill 1y ago

I can't figure out how to link, but if you search me you will see elsewhere that I explained that bigger is better for the soil. Most small landholders should sell and move to the city. You need a fair amount of size to make a decent living selling something cheap. Though my biggest worry is the medium sized farmers - wasting $10/acre in extra chemicals when you have 600 acres is only $6000 - you probably won't even notice it and in any case not wasting it costs investment too. When you have 6000 acres though that $10 is a larger number and you can afford to put a lot of money in better whatever to not waste it.

rangestransform 1y ago
The American voter is too ideologically attached to the idea of the small family farm and opposed to the big scary boogeyman corporation to support any policy that encourages consolidation of farming and farmers to move to th city
- bluGill 1y ago
  Not just American - most of Europe is even worse.
scythe 1y ago
In order to link, you right-click (or equivalent) on the time stamp of the post, which on your comment currently says "4 hours ago". That creates a link like this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44889842 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44889842 > if you search me you will see elsewhere that I explained that bigger is better for the soil. I read through your argument here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44889514 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44889514 These claims are interesting but I did not find information to substantiate them with a brief search. I did find this: https://mupages.marshall.edu/sites/nexus/2025/01/17/types-of-tractors-and-their-impact-on-soil-compaction/#gsc.tab=0 https://mupages.marshall.edu/sites/nexus/2025/01/17/types-of... > Most small landholders should sell and move to the city. Economically, this has been true for decades irrespective of developments in autonomous vehicles. But city life is miserable, and there will always be people trying to escape it on the farm.