‘ShapeCost^TUM’: A calculation tool for field geometry dependent cultivation and transport costs

The costs of cultivating agricultural fields strongly depend, among other things, on field geometry and farm-field distance. Field size and shape influence farming efficiency at the micro level, which eventually translates into field market prices. We present a calculation tool capable of quantifying multiple categories of variable costs at the field level, considering field size, field shape, cropping plan, and transport on roads. Our tool calculates field geometry-dependent cultivation and transport costs, i.e., costs from working steps directly affected by field geometry or farm-field distance. The tool combines several up-to-date datasets on crop production and farm machinery. We present a typical use case to demonstrate the versatility of our tool. We assess the relevance of field geometry on cultivation and transport costs for both arable- and grassland and provide an overview of the sensitivity of our calculation method to several input variables. The results reveal that cultivation and transport costs are highly dependent on field shape and field size. Costs are influenced by various factors, i.e., the type of farming, the cropping rotation, the machinery used, and the underlying prices for fuel and labour. Transport costs depend on farm-field distance and road quality. Enclaves within a field increase the costs of cultivating the main plot. Developed initially for compensation of Bavarian farmers for sub-optimal field geometry after infrastructure projects, several other potential scientific and non-scientific use cases are presented.