A new cotton harvest equipment investment decision-aid has just been made available on Cotton Incorporated’s Web site. It is designed to allow the user to compare two different investments in cotton harvest machinery using capital budgeting techniques.
The Microsoft Excel program may be downloaded and used to create several different harvest equipment evaluation scenarios. “The most immediate application will probably be by producers who are considering purchasing one of the new on-board module building (OMB) pickers,” explains Jeanne Reeves, Director, Agricultural Research and staff Ag Economist, Cotton Incorporated. Additionally, the aid will let producers compare their existing harvest system to the new OMBs.
Various sample scenarios have been developed and include: a six-row basket picker versus John Deere’s round OMB picker; a basket picker versus Case IH’s rectangular (half-size module) OMB picker; a basket picker versus two cotton strippers and also the new OMB pickers versus two cotton strippers.
A user-defined version of the spreadsheet is also provided for those who want to create their own unique comparisons specific to their operation. The default scenarios were based on data collected from on-farm evaluations over the last three years.
A link to the Cotton Harvest Equipment Investment Decision Aid is available on the home page of cottoninc.com under the “Resources” tab. In addition to the decision-aid, the site has information on spindle-type harvesting systems as well as information on stripper harvesting and seed cotton handling/storage. The site provides “how-to” information such as: how to efficiently maintain and operate your harvesting system, and how to maximize the harvester’s capacity and productivity. It also offers information on pre-season and in-season procedures for each system, as well as safety information and lint quality best practices. All of this information can be found at: www.cottoninc.com/cotton-harvest-systems.