How to cut your diesel fuel bill
By Kevin Hursh
For field crop production, fertilizer and crop protection products have bigger price tags per acre than diesel fuel. However, there are ways to trim diesel consumption without hurting crop production.
When diesel was less than 40 cents a litre, this may not have seemed as important. At triple that cost, the numbers are significant.
The most obvious way to cut diesel consumption is to reduce the number of field operations.
In many parts of the country, one-pass direct seeding has become the norm. The fertilizer - whether in dry, liquid or anhydrous form, or a combination of forms - is placed in the soil at the same time as the seed.
On the Prairies, swathing and then combining was common. Over the past couple of decades, many producers have moved to straight cutting. They've eliminated the swathing operation in most years on most crops.
Canola is a notable exception. While various mechanisms are being tried to facilitate straight combining, the vast majority of canola acreage is still swathed to avoid shattering losses from the ripe pods breaking open and spilling the seeds.
Recent years have seen a revolution in the use of GPS and auto-steer systems. Compared to the cost of inputs, auto-steer is a bargain. Some producers go for the systems that hook directly into the power steering. Others opt for systems that control the steering wheel and can be readily moved from the tractor to the high-clearance sprayer to the combine.
Reducing overlap means a reduction in fertilizer, chemical and seed use. It also means fewer passes to finish a field, which reduces diesel fuel consumption.
While many larger acreage producers have had auto-steer for several years, the price tag as compared to the savings now makes it attractive for almost every commercial producer.
What about the differences in diesel fuel consumption between different tractors, combines and high-clearance sprayers? Are there diesel fuel savings from picking the right makes and models or from trading up to newer power units?
The short answer is yes, there may be savings. Practically, though, there are many other considerations that are more likely to govern the kind of tractor or combine you use.
There are no independent published test results for makes and models of combines and high-clearance sprayers, but the Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory has a long history dating back to 1920.
Power take off (PTO) horsepower is measured. On tractors over 100 horsepower, drawbar pulling power is measured. Three-point hitch lift capacity is evaluated, as is remote hydraulic performance. The power performance and fuel consumption is evaluated at varying engine speeds.
David Morgan, assistant director of the Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory, says it's the power stats rather than the fuel consumption numbers that interest producers the most.
Morgan cites factors such as brand loyalty, dealer loyalty, service availability, purchase price and expected trade-in value as bigger factors than fuel consumption when most producers make their tractor-buying decisions.
“More attention is being paid to fuel costs, and you can compare fuel costs from our test reports on tractors of comparable horsepower,” Morgan explains. However, he says the differences between tractors aren't usually significant enough to override all the other factors that go into buying decisions.
“The test reports can show the advantages of shifting up and throttling back,” Morgan notes. “Some tractors do better at reduced engine speeds than others.”
All the test reports prepared by the lab since 1998 can be accessed free of charge from the lab's website at tractortestlab.unl.edu. Older tests are available in hard copy for a small fee. The lab is working on getting older reports available electronically.
Gordon Kent, assistant professor of Agriculture and Bioresource Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan, agrees with Morgan's assessments. In addition to teaching students about farm equipment management, Kent farms near Riverhurst, Sask.
“Fuel economy isn't usually a good reason to trade for a new tractor,” Kent explains. There aren't usually large differences in fuel efficiency between older and newer tractors as long as older tractors are in good repair.
“If a tractor smokes, there's usually a major fuel issue. Modern tractors shouldn't smoke, even under full load.”
While most tractors should be in the same range for fuel consumption at a particular horsepower rating, Kent notes that there are large differences in the draft requirements of various implements - in other words, how much power it takes to pull them. This is especially true for seeding outfits.
Unfortunately, useful information can be difficult to obtain and analyze.
Different ground openers can have dramatically different draft. This is often masked by the power requirements of pulling the implement, pulling the air cart filled with seed and fertilizer, and running the hydraulic fan that delivers the seed and fertilizer.
Combine that with different soil types, varying soil moisture conditions and varying terrain from one field to the next, and it can be difficult for producers to know whether or not one seeding outfit requires more horsepower than another.
That brings us back to the surest ways to cut your diesel fuel bill. Select, properly adjust and maintain field equipment to minimize draft. Reduce the number of field operations whenever possible. And use auto-steer systems to reduce overlap and keep outfits running in a straight line.
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