Optimisation of Grain Farms in Latvia.

The aim is to create an economic optimisation model - a computer program that can be used to improve the work of grain farms. This model uses mathematical equations to calculate the most optimal technology, which needs to be used to maximise the farms profits. The data on grain farms machinery and equipment are inserted into the program, adding the data on the machinery and equipment value, maintenance costs, depreciation costs, usability term, and the average fuel consumption in kilograms per hour. When an agricultural machine is paired with equipment the working width of which is known, the program calculates the productivity of this unit in hectares per hour depending on the working speed. It is possible to calculate the costs of one particular agricultural action per hectare based on these data. The cost of seeds, herbicides, fungicides, and fertilisers are also taken into consideration. Depending on the technology, the costs of the whole grain growing process differ from each other and they are connected with the agricultural land that is used for grain production. It is also possible to use this economic optimisation model to plan an additional field area increase and probable influence on the farm profit. It also lets the user see the field area at which the technology, that is being used now, becomes less efficient than another, if the field area is increased. As a result, this model gives any grain farm the possibility to analyse the current situation on the farm and see the results produced by the currently chosen technology as well as to plan the future and see how a field area change affects the farm economic situation and which technology would be better to use. After the input of the data into the model, the three technologies chosen proved that each one is effective only in a certain range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]