Types of Agricultural Equipment

Types of Agricultural Equipment

Modern technology allows farmer to harvest larger acres of land. The most common and oldest agricultural machinery used in harvesting crops on a fertile soil is a tractor. In its initial stages, a tractor was used for simple operations such as ploughing, pulling equipment on the fertile soil to flatten it for farming, and even planting of seeds. As more sophisticated technology develops, tractors are now able to perform activities that previously they could not. Some tractors now come with GPS systems installed in them to guide the user. Also, some have auto steer functions that help the farmer in saving fuel and cutting costs. Many other equipment have been developed that can be attached to a tractor to aid the different processes of farming.

Before, tractors were the only machine used in the harvesting of crops. Now they have been replaced with combines that harvest crops such as wheat, oat, barley or corn. The name of these machines is derived from the fact that they combine three harvesting processes of reaping, threshing and winnowing into a single process. Combines have also developed throughout as now they come with auto steer laser guided systems and air-conditioned cabins.

Modern day farming has advanced so much that in places such as Singapore, where there is not a lot of available space for farming, farmers have adopted hydroponics. This method involves the cultivation of crops such as lettuce in a controlled environment without the use of soil. Nutrients and other minerals are provided to the crops through controlled technological systems. The benefit of such form of agriculture is that farmers can cultivate large quantities of crops in a limited space. This is similar to farming fishes, chickens or other animals in a controlled environment.

Animal farms have also gone through great advancement and used sophisticated technology to get high volume of output while involving low input. For example, cattle farms can be milked at the same time with the use of machines. This practice results to rise in efficiency and decrease in labor cost. Because of the advantages of agricultural equipment, many farmers now prefer to use machineries to aid their farming procedures.