Machinery, Tech & Automation
Machinery, Fleet & Contracting
What it cost, what it did, and whether you should have hired it instead.
Machinery is the second largest capital commitment on most farms and the least rigorously appraised. This module holds the asset register, true cost per hour and per hectare, maintenance and compliance, contractor engagement and the own-versus-hire decision that determines whether the fleet is an asset or a liability.
- 12 capabilities
- 4 linked schemes
- Flagship module
- Offline capable
- 12
- Capabilities in this module
- 5
- Interactive tools
- 4
- Linked support schemes
- 6
- Data integrations
- 5
- Measures reported
The ground reality
What is actually happening in machinery & fleet in the UK
Machinery costing is dominated by depreciation, which is invisible in the year it occurs and decisive over the replacement cycle. Machinery rings and contracting arrangements are well established in the UK but poorly costed against ownership, and the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund provides periodic capital support that shifts the calculation.
Figures are as published at the time of writing. Farm policy and payment rates change frequently — verify against the primary source before relying on any number here.
In the field
Machinery & fleet, as it actually looks
Photography from working UK holdings alongside the interface that records it. Every frame below is a commissioned slot: the brief is stated until the photograph is taken.
Machinery & Fleet — a walkthrough
A working pass through machinery & fleet: entering the record once, and watching it appear in the evidence pack, the calendar and the scheme application without being typed again.
- 0:00 What the module is for
- 0:48 Entering the record
- 2:05 Where it appears next
- 3:20 The evidence pack
Photography slots state their own brief until the shot is commissioned, so the layout never shifts when real images arrive.
Capabilities
What Machinery & Fleet does
Every capability below is built on the same underlying record, so entering something once is enough for it to appear wherever it is needed.
Record and plan
- Asset register with purchase, finance, warranty and disposal records
- True cost per hour and per hectare including depreciation, finance, repairs and fuel
- Replacement cycle modelling with optimal replacement point identification
Operate and monitor
- Own versus hire versus contractor comparison for every operation
- Maintenance schedule with service intervals and completion records
- Statutory compliance — road use, LOLER, PUWER and operator competence
Comply and evidence
- Contractor engagement with rates, work orders and completion verification
- Machinery ring and sharing arrangement management
- Fuel and red diesel usage recording with entitlement compliance
Analyse and improve
- Workshop parts inventory and repair history
- Utilisation reporting showing hours worked against hours available
- Grant eligibility checking against current equipment funding rounds
Interactive
Tools you actually use, not screens you read
These are working interfaces inside the module — maps, calculators, planners and dashboards that respond to your own holding data.
True cost calculator producing cost per hour and per hectare by machine
True cost calculator producing cost per hour and per hectare by machine
CalculatorOwn versus contract comparator for each field operation
Own versus contract comparator for each field operation
ToolReplacement timing model showing the cost-minimising point
Replacement timing model showing the cost-minimising point
ToolUtilisation heat map across the machinery fleet and the season
Utilisation heat map across the machinery fleet and the season
MapGrant eligibility checker against current equipment fund item lists
Grant eligibility checker against current equipment fund item lists
WizardEnd to end
How Machinery & Fleet runs, start to finish
The module is modelled as a state machine, so at any point the business knows exactly which stage every record is at and what has to happen next.
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1
Register every asset with cost and finance terms
This is where the record starts, and getting it right here removes work at every later stage.
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2
Record hours, area and fuel
The platform prompts only for what this stage genuinely needs, and carries everything forward.
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3
Maintain to schedule and evidence compliance
Conflicts with scheme rules, regulatory windows and existing commitments are flagged here rather than discovered later.
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4
Calculate true cost per hour and hectare
Capture works offline, so this stage is completed in the field rather than remembered afterwards.
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5
Compare against contractor rates
Everything recorded at this point becomes evidence automatically, in every format that will later ask for it.
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6
Decide own, hire or contract
This is the stage most businesses currently do twice, once for the operation and once for the paperwork.
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7
Plan replacement at the optimal point
Results feed the whole-farm view, so the effect of this stage is visible against the rest of the business.
-
8
Apply for equipment funding where eligible
The cycle closes here, and what is learned is carried into next season's plan rather than lost.
Who uses it
Built around four real jobs, not one generic user
Each of these people needs something different from the same record. The module is designed so none of them has to work around the others.
Farm manager
Fleet decisions
Needs true cost per hectare before signing a replacement order.
Agricultural contractor
Multi-client operations
Needs work orders, completion evidence and invoicing in one flow.
Machinery ring manager
Matching supply and demand
Needs availability and rates across members.
Farm accountant
Capital allowances and appraisal
Needs asset records reconciled to the accounts.
Schemes and funding
Support schemes this module works with
Agrivencia holds these schemes as data, so eligibility, payment rates, caps and windows update the day they change rather than at the next software release.
Farming Equipment and Technology Fund
Contribute towards the cost of specified equipment and technology that improves productivity, slurry management or animal health and welfare.
Defra / Rural Payments Agency EnglandImproving Farm Productivity Grant
Support investment in robotics, automation and on-farm energy that raises productivity.
Defra / Rural Payments Agency EnglandFarming Transformation Fund
Fund larger capital projects that transform farm productivity, water management or value addition.
Defra / Rural Payments Agency ScotlandFuture Farm Investment Scheme
Support capital investment improving efficiency, emissions and environmental performance on Scottish farms.
Scottish GovernmentRates, caps and windows change frequently and sometimes without notice. Always confirm against the current published scheme rules before applying.
Measurement
How you will know it is working
The module reports against these measures from the day it is switched on, so the value is demonstrable rather than assumed.
- 01Machinery cost per hectare
- 02Utilisation hours per machine
- 03Unplanned downtime
- 04Repairs cost per hour
- 05Contractor versus own cost differential
Try it now
True Machinery Cost Calculator
Work out what a machine actually costs per hour and per hectare, including the depreciation nobody sees in the cashbook.
How this is calculated
Depreciation is purchase price minus residual value divided by years to replacement. Total annual cost adds fuel, repairs and finance. Cost per hour divides by annual hours; cost per hectare divides by work rate. The break-even contractor rate is the point above which owning is cheaper.
Depreciation usually dominates and is invisible in the year it occurs, which is why machinery decisions made on cash cost are almost always wrong.
Find
Find contractors and dealers
Filter by type, nation, distance and accreditation. Results are ranked by relevance to your holding once your holding record exists, and alphabetically before that.
6 records shown from the platform’s own register
- Module Machinery, Fleet & Contracting Flagship
- Module Precision Agriculture, Guidance & Variable Rate Core
- Module Robotics & Field Automation Core
- Module Drones & Aerial Survey Core
- Module Satellite & Remote Sensing Core
- Module IoT Sensors & Rural Connectivity Core
Benchmarking
How this compares with businesses like yours
A cohort is only useful if it is genuinely comparable, so it is built from farm type, soil grade, region and scale rather than from whoever happens to have signed up. Your own figure is never shown to anyone else.
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Machinery cost per hectare
Your figure appears hereLower quartile 25 Median 51 Upper quartile 72
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Utilisation hours per machine
Your figure appears hereLower quartile 39 Median 58 Upper quartile 80
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Unplanned downtime
Your figure appears hereLower quartile 28 Median 53 Upper quartile 78
-
Repairs cost per hour
Your figure appears hereLower quartile 40 Median 57 Upper quartile 76
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Contractor versus own cost differential
Your figure appears hereLower quartile 25 Median 51 Upper quartile 73
How the cohort is built
- Farm type
- Matched
- Soil grade
- Matched
- Region
- Matched
- Scale band
- Matched
- Cohort size
- Minimum 12 businesses, or no comparison is shown
Questions answered
What people ask about Machinery & Fleet
Does this replace the software I already use?
Not necessarily. Agrivencia integrates with authoritative sources and mainstream packages rather than insisting on replacing them. Where an incumbent does one job well, the platform connects to it; where the job spans several systems and nobody does it, the platform does it.
Will it work where I have no signal?
Yes. Field capture in Machinery & Fleet is offline first, storing locally and synchronising when a connection returns. Only around a fifth of UK farms report reliable signal across the whole holding, so this is a design assumption rather than a feature.
What happens when the scheme rules change?
Scheme rules are held as data rather than code, so a rate change, a cap change or a window closure is a content update that takes effect the same day. The platform also alerts you to what the change does to your own position.
Who owns the data I put in?
You do. The Farm Data Charter gives you a complete export in open formats at any time, and every instance of data sharing requires an explicit, revocable consent that is visible in your account.
Does it work if I farm across a border?
Yes, and that is one of the main reasons the platform exists. A business with land in more than one nation sees one reconciled view rather than two portals, with obligations and deadlines from both administrations in a single calendar.
Can my agronomist or land agent use it too?
Yes. You grant scoped, time-limited access per holding and per module, and you can revoke it in one click. Advisers never get a shared password or a blanket view.
What is the biggest limitation of this module?
Depreciation invisibility. Mitigated by full-cost rather than cash-cost accounting. We would rather state that plainly than let you discover it after signing.
Documents
Take it away with you
Everything here is printable and works on a kitchen table with no signal. Where a document asks for an email address, it says so on the button rather than after you press it.
The Real Cost Per Hectare: Machinery Costing and the Own-or-Hire Decision
The practical handbook for machinery & fleet: what the rules require, what the evidence has to show, and the mistakes that cost people money.
machinery & fleet — evidence checklist
Every document an audit or a claim asks for, in the order it is asked for, with the validity period of each.
machinery & fleet — record template
The record structure the module uses, as a spreadsheet, so a business not yet on the platform can start keeping it correctly today.
Data model reference
Entities, fields and integration points for machinery & fleet, for advisers and software partners.
See Machinery & Fleet running on your own holding
Thirty minutes, using your parcels, your schemes and your enterprises rather than a sample farm. No obligation and no sales script — if it does not fit your business we will say so.
- Free tier available
- No card required
- Your data stays yours