This module collects data on motor vehicles and machinery either used, rented or owned by the agricultural holding. Furthermore, the chapter includes a section on internet facilities and management systems used by the farm. For variables on machinery and equipment a common reference day within the reference year shall be established by each Member State.

Machinery

Internet facilities

Access to the internet (ACS_INET)

The holding has access to the internet.

• 1 - Yes
• 0 - No

Access to the internet

Internet access refers to the possibility for anyone in holding to access the internet from the holding. This is equivalent to the definition of the survey on internet use within households. It does not mean 'connectivity', which refers to to the way people are hooked up to the Internet, and may include dial-up telephone lines, always-on broadband connections, and wireless devices. The term internet access for enterprises means having an external connection from the enterprise to the internet through an 'internet service provider' (ISP).

Use of management information systems (MIS_USE)

The holding uses management information systems as a support decision tool, either on an own computer or via an on-line system.

• 1 - Yes
• 0 - No

A management information system (MIS) is used for decision-making, and for the coordination, control, analysis, and visualization of information in an organization. Such systems involve collecting, processing, storing and disseminating data in the form of information needed to carry out the functions of the farm. Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) in agriculture have evolved from simple farm recordkeeping into sophisticated and complex systems to support production management (for example to reduce production costs, comply with agricultural standards, and maintain high product quality and safety). For the purpose of the data collection, it is not required that all the below mentioned features are present. A FMIS may have one or more of the below indicated features.

Basic machinery

Basic machinery refers to machinery owned by the holder or the holding, a farmers cooperative, machinery from stations or machinery from a contractor (with or without driver). It excludes machinery that was not used in the reference year. 

Motor vehicle

A motor vehicle is moved by the power of its own motor, e.g. self-propelled. For the purposes of this data collection, not all kinds of motor vehicles are relevant.

Machinery owned by the holding

Machinery owned by the holdings

This refers to machinery owned by the farmer or the holding which was used by the agricultural holding during the 12 months preceding the reference day of the survey and which is the sole property of the agricultural holding on the reference day of the survey.. It excludes machinery that are leased or rented on a short-term basis such as hourly or daily rentals, machinery owned by farmers cooperatives, from stations, contractors or operational lease where ownership remains ambiguous at the end of the contract. In the case of financial/capital lease, this is to some extend different as the lessee acquires the machine/equipment at the end of the contract. Therefore, operational lease is excluded and financial/capital lease is included.

Tractors

Tractors refers to all tractors with at least two axles and all other motor vehicles used as agricultural tractors.

For the purpose of the data collection, tractors are classified in power classes.

Table 9 – Classification of tractors in different legal acts

Number of tractors <= 40 kW owned by the holding (MAC_TSP_TRT_KW_LT40_HLD)

Number of tractors > 40 kW and <= 60 kW owned by the holding (MAC_TSP_TRT_KW_40-60_HLD)

Number of tractors > 60 kW and <= 100 kW owned by the holding (MAC_TSP_TRT_KW_60-100_HLD)

Number of tractors > 100 kW owned by the holding (MAC_TSP_TRT_KW_GT100_HLD)

Tillage machinery (MAC_TIL_HLD)

The holdings owns tillage machinery.

• 1 - Yes
• 0 - No

Tillage machinery

This section covers motor vehicles with one axle or without axle (i.e manned  moto-cultivars), which are used in agriculture, horticulture and viticulture.

Seeders and planters (MAC_SDR_PLR_HLD)

The holding owns seeders and planters.

• 1 - Yes
• 0 - No

Seeders and planters

Spreaders, pulverisators or sprayers for fertilisers (MAC_SPSF_HLD)

The holding owns spreaders, pulverisators or sprayers (aeroplanes and drones excluded) for application of manure or fertilisers.

• 1 - Yes
• 0 - No

Spreaders, pulverisators or sprayers

Application equipment for plant protection products (MAC_PPP_HLD)

The holding owns one or more of the following elements (aeroplanes and drones excluded) for the application of plant protection products.

• 1 - Yes
• 0 - No

Application equipment for plant protection products

The horizontal boom sprayers and orchard, vineyard or other permanent crop sprayers used to apply PPPs in the reference period are equipped with low-risk nozzles (MAC_HBSOV_HLD)

There is no harmonization across the EU regarding the drift reduction achieved by various drift reducing nozzles. In general terms, low-drift nozzles are designed to produce larger spray droplets with fewer driftable fines. We define low-risk nozzles as any nozzle that is expected to reduce spray drift by at least 50%. 

• ALL – Yes, they all are
• SOME – No, only some
• NONE – No, none

Combine harvesters (MAC_CHVT_HLD)

The holding owns combine harvesters.

• 1 - Yes
• 0 - No

Combine harvesters

This section covers machines used to harvest dry grain.

Other fully mechanised harvesters (MAC_FMHVT_OTH_HLD)

The holding owns other fully mechanised harvesters.

• 1 - Yes
• 0 - No

Other fully mechanised harvesters

This section covers machines, other than combine harvesters, for the continuous harvesting of sugar beets, potatoes or forage crops, regardless of whether they are self-propelled, tractor-drawn or tractor-mounted. Harvesting of a crop may be carried out in one or more operations (e.g. when several machines having different functions are used in a continuous sequence, in such a case the various machines are counted as a single machine).

Machinery used by several holdings

Machinery used by several holdings

This refers to motor vehicles and machinery used by the agricultural holding during the 12 months preceding the reference day of the survey, but being the property of:

• another agricultural holding (e.g. used under mutual aid arrangements or hired from a machinery hire syndicate)
• a cooperative association
• two or more agricultural holdings jointly
• a machinery group
• an agricultural service supply agency

Service supply agencies are undertakings carrying out services on agricultural holdings under contract as their main or secondary activity. In contrary to the agricultural service supply agencies which provide full agricultural service (i.e. they use the agency's labour force and machinery to carry out some agricultural operation as for example ploughing or pesticide treatment) the machinery group rents the motor vehicles and/or machinery being in its property to the agricultural holding and the agricultural operation is carried out by the agricultural holding's labour force.

Tractors (MAC_TSP_TRT_SHLD)

• 1 - Yes
• 0 - No

Cultivators, ploughs, seeders, pulverisators, sprayers, equipment for application of plant protection products or fertilisers (MAC_PPP_SHLD)

• 1 - Yes
• 0 - No

Combine harvesters (MAC_CHVT_SHLD)

• 1 - Yes
• 0 - No

Other fully mechanised harvesters (MAC_FMHVT_OTH_SHLD)

• 1 - Yes
• 0 - No

Use of precision farming

It is crucial to highlight that there could be substantial overlap between the variables and within the different sections of the module. A series of examples are given at the end of this section to better illustrate possible combinations. This section covers mostly farm management strategies used by the agricultural holding for crop production that focuses on (real-time) observation, measurement and responses to variability in crops and fields. The only exception is MAC_ROB in which precision farming can be used in crop and livestock production. 

Use of precision farming

The use of precision farming refers to the application of modern information technology to gather, process and analyze multisource data of high spatial and temporal resolution for decision making and operations in the management of crop production. Significant components of precision farming involves

• the use of sensor technologies (LiDAR, Ph sensors, GPS sensors, accelerometer sensors, electromagnetic sensors)
• variable rate technology
• GPS system or Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
• big data and artificial intelligence
• robotics
• Internet of things (IoT)

Robotics (MAC_ROB)

The holding owns, rents or uses robotics.

• 1 - Yes
• 0 – No

Robotics

Robotics refer to machines where increased levels of intelligence are added to the machines for its autonomous work that perform crop or livestock production tasks (e.g soil preparation, seeding, transplanting, weeding, pest control, harvesting, automatic feeding, milking or manure cleaning) under human supervision, albeit without direct human intervention.

Robotics for plant protection products (MAC_ROB_PPP)

The farm owns, rents or uses equipment using GPS guidance for the application of PPP.

• 1 - Yes

• 0 – No

Robotics for plant protection products

This section covers robots used to apply plant protection products in crop production.

Band spraying of plant protection products (MAC_BDS_PPP)

The farm owns, rents or uses equipment for band-spraying of PPP.

• 1 - Yes
• 0 – No

Band spraying of plant protection products

This section covers band spraying application attachments. Banded application involves spraying PPP directly onto the crop or inter-row over a certain width. For corn, for instance, this width can range between 20 and 38 cm for a 76 cm spacing between rows. The holding owns one or more of the following elements for the application of band spraying of plant protection products. Band spraying can be applicable in arable and permanent crops. 

Variable rate techniques (MAC_VRT)

The holding uses variable rate techniques for one or more of the following productions tasks: fertilisation, plant protection, weeding, sowing, planting, other.

• 1 - Yes
• 0 – No

This refers to an area of technology focusing on the automated precise application of farm inputs (seeds, plant protection products, fertilizer, irrigation water) to a given location with the means of data generated from sensors, satellites or GPS. Variable rate application for precision farming spans many forms of technology, such as drones, artificial intelligence, hyperspectral imaging, aiming on increasing profitability and at the same time diminishing the amount of traditional inputs to grow crops.

Precision monitoring of crops (MAC_PMON_CR)

The holding monitors crops using one or more of the following techniques.

• 1 - Yes
• 0 – No

Precision monitoring of crops

Precision monitoring of crops integrates a set of technologies, devices, protocols and computational algorithms to improve agricultural processes.

Soil analysis (MAC_ASOIL)

The holding took soil samples for analysis in the reference period.

• 1 - Yes
• 0 – No

Example 1: Autonomous robotic with horizontal boom sprayer with low-risk nozzles for PPP owned by the holder

• The holding owns, rents or uses robotics (MAC_ROB = 1)
• The horizontal boom sprayers and orchard, vineyard or other permanent crop sprayers used to apply PPPs in the reference period are equipped with low-risk nozzles owned by the holding (MAC_HBSOV_HLD = 1)
• The farm owns, rents a robotic for plant protection products (MAC_ROB_PPP = 1)
• Spreaders, pulverisators or sprayers for fertilisers owned by the holding (MAC_PPP_HLD = 1)

Example 2: Robotic fertiliser spreader with variable rate techniques owned by the holder

• The holding owns, rents or uses robotics (MAC_ROB = 1)
• The holding owns spreaders, pulverisators or sprayers (aeroplanes and drones excluded) for application of manure or fertilisers (MAC_SPSF_HLD=1)
• The holding uses variable rate techniques for one or more of the following productions tasks: fertilisation, plant protection, weeding, sowing, planting, other (MAC_VRT=1)

Example 3: Fertiliser spreader equipped with variable rate techniques owned by several holdings

• Cultivators, ploughs, seeders, pulverisators, sprayers, equipment for application of plant protection products or fertilisers (MAC_PPP_SHLD=1)
• The holding uses variable rate techniques for one or more of the following productions tasks: fertilisation, plant protection, weeding, sowing, planting, other (MAC_VRT=1)

Example 4: Drone to spread PPP owned by the holder

• The holding owns, rents or uses robotics (MAC_ROB = 1)
• The farm owns, rents or uses equipment using GPS guidance for the application of PPP (MAC_ROB_PPP=1)

Machinery for livestock management

Machinery for livestock management

This section includes machinery and automated systems for livestock management used, owned or rented by the agricultural holding at the common reference day within the reference year. Automation refers to the use of mechanical and electronic equipment to reduce labor input, increase production efficiency and improves product quality.

Welfare and health monitoring of animals (MAC_WHMON)

The holding monitors animals using one or more of the following techniques.

• 1 - Yes

• 0 - No

Grinder mixer for animal feeding (MAC_GM_AFD)

The holding owns, rents or uses grinder-mixers for animal feeding.

• 1 - Yes
• 0 – No

Grinder mixer for animal feeding

This refers to a machine mainly used for crushing grains (all kind of cereals) into fine powder and mixing them at the same time with other powder.

Automatic feeding systems (MAC_AFDS)

The holding owns, rents or uses automatic feeding systems for animals.

• 1 - Yes
• 0 – No

Automatic regulation of barn climate (MAC_AREG)

The holding uses automatic regulation of barn climate.

• 1 - Yes
• 0 – No

Automatic regulation of barn climate

This refers to a system that monitors and controls the climate condition in the barn. The controller compares a single or a set of parameters to a desired point by adjusting it according to measured variability. The control device can be operated semi-automatically or automatically and it can also embrace smart technology application (IoT, remote control).

Milking robots (MAC_MLK_ROB)

The holding owns, rents or uses milking robots.

• 1 - Yes
• 0 – No

Milking robots

This section covers automatic milking systems where milking is performed without the direct physical engagement of the producer.

Storage for agricultural products

It is important to highlight that the data collection aims on specific types of storage rather than on products. For instance, the feed for livestock might share similar operations or facility storage and should be also considered under this variable. Note that there is also no distinction made for the origin of products (i.e produced on the farm or bought by the farm) for the storage. 

Storage of seeds (cereals, oilseeds and pulses) (BLD_ST_SED)

Cubic meters of storage for cereals, oilseeds and pulses

Storage of seeds (cereals, oilseeds and pulses)

This involves the application of sieve cleaning or silo drying to mitigate pests and diseases and/or facilities (e.g flat store, high silo facility) to adequately store the products.

. 

Figure 46 - Silo storage with salt drying

Source: https://www.dlg.org/fileadmin/downloads/landwirtschaft/themen/publikationen/merkblaetter/dlg-merkblatt_425.pdf

Figure 47 - Flat silo

Source: https://silo.tips/download/flachtrocknung-kongskilde-flachtrocknung

Storage of roots, tubers and bulbs (BLD_ST_RTB)

The holding has storage for roots, tubers and bulbs.

• 1 - Yes

• 0 – No

This includes bulk storage facility with the application of drying, curing and storing root, tubers and bulbs. Immediately after storage, potatoes and onions are supplied with sufficient air for drying with the help of underfloor ventilation. In the first few days, the drying air is heated so that the drying process can be completed as quickly as possible. This is a very important process for the quality. When the onions are dry, they are refrigerated at around one to two degrees. All these processes can be automatically controlled using sensors in the warehouses.

Fig 48 - Bulk storage of onions

Source: https://elligsen-landhandel.de/zwiebeln/ (Germany)

Storage of vegetables and fruits (BLD_ST_VF)

The holding has dry storage for fruits and vegetables (refrigerator storage excluded).

• 1 - Yes
• 0 – No

Crops are usually stored in large boxes, which are stacked up to a height of 10 m. In order to dissipate the field and respiratory heat of the living products, air movement in the warehouse is required. A commonly applied technique is lateral ventilation moving air around the (open) storage boxes, rather than circulating the air between the crops. This type of ventilation can be combined with temperature and humidity control and it is suitable for potatoes, fruits, tomatoes, but not for onions. Onions require forced ventilation between the bulbs, because they have a lot of loose skin between them, which prevents homogenous ventilation with a lateral system.

Newly developed storage systems such as controlled atmosphere and ultra-low oxygen improve significantly the shelf life of vegetables and fruits. The main idea is to control the oxygen content, carbon dioxide content or ethylene content in the air. This can be applied in specific boxes or in a warehouse.

Fig 49 - Storage of potatoes in large boxes using lateral ventilation

Source: https://www.fruitandveggie.com/potato-and-onion-sprout-control-goes-eco-friendly-2868/ (United Kingdom)

Fig 50 - Controlled atmosphere and ultra-low oxygen boxes 

Source: https://www.freshplaza.fr/article/9146793/l-atmosphere-controlee-naturelle-janny-mt-continue-d-etendre-sa-gamme-d-utilisation/ (France)

Refrigerated storage (BLD_ST_RF)

Cubic meters of stationary storage in refrigerators (regardless whether for vegetables, fruits, flowers, meat and meat products, milk and milk products or eggs).

Equipment

Equipment used for production of renewable energy on agricultural holdings

This section refers to equipment used by the agricultural holding for production of renewable energy for the market (connected to the grid) or own consumption (not connected to the grid).

Renewable energy

Renewable energy is energy that is derived from natural processes that are replenished constantly. There are various forms of renewable energy, deriving directly or indirectly from the sun, or from heat generated deep within earth. They include energy generated from solar, wind, biomass, geothermal and hydropower, solid biomass, biogas and biofuels. While there are a limited number of renewable energy and waste sources, there are a large number of technologies allowing their exploitation, most of which are still at the research/development stage or have not yet reached commercial maturity. The renewable energy and waste sources, and associated technologies listed are part of those which are considered to be economically viable.

Wind (REN_WND)

The holding uses wind turbines to produce energy.

• 1 - Yes
• 0 - No

Wind energy is kinetic energy of wind exploited for electricity generation in wind turbines.

Biomass (REN_BIOM)

The holding uses biomass to produce energy. Biomass is organic, non-fossil material of biological origin (plants and animals) used as raw material for the production of biofuels. It can also be called biomass feedstock or energy crops. Biofuels (fuels derived directly or indirectly from biomass) can be split up into three categories: solid biofuels, liquid biofuels and biogases.

.

• 1 - Yes
• 0 - No

This section refers to the equipment used by the agricultural holding for the production of renewable energy from biomass.

Biomass

Biomass is solid, liquid or gaseous organic, non-fossil material of biological origin used for the production of heat, electricity or transport fuels. The renewable energy produced from biomass can also be in form of liquid biofuels andor biogas.

Solid biomass

• Charcoal: the solid residue of the destructive distillation and pyrolysis of wood and other vegetal material
• Wood, wood wastes, other solid wastes: purpose-grown energy crops (poplar, willow, etc.), a multitude of woody materials generated by an industrial process (wood/paper industry in particular) or provided directly by forestry and agriculture (firewood, wood chips, bark, sawdust, shavings, chips, etc.) as well as wastes such as straw, rice husks, nut shells, poultry litter, crushed grape dregs, etc. Combustion is one of the technologies used for these solid wastes.
• Wood pellets: a cylindrical product which has been agglomerated from wood residues by compression with or without the addition of a small quantity of binder.
• Animal waste: Energy from excreta of animals, meat and fish residues which, when dry, are used directly as a fuel. This excludes waste used in anaerobic fermentation plants. Fuel gases from these plants are included under biogases.
• Other vegetal materials and residuals: biofuels not specified elsewhere and including straw, vegetable husks, ground nut shells, pruning brushwood, olive pomace and other wastes arising from the maintenance, cropping and processing of plants.

Liquid biofuels

• Bio-gasoline: includes bioethanol (ethanol produced from biomass and/or the biodegradable fraction of waste), bio-methanol (methanol produced from biomass andor the biodegradable fraction of waste), bioETBE (ethyl-tertio-butyl-ether produced on the basis of bioethanol) and bio-MTBE (methyl-tertio-butyl-ether produced on the basis of bio-methanol)
• Biodiesels: includes biodiesel (a methyl-ester produced from vegetable or animal oil, of diesel quality), biodimethylether (dimethylether produced from biomass), Fischer Tropsh (Fischer Tropsh produced from biomass), cold pressed biooil (oil produced from oil seed through mechanical processing only) and all other liquid biofuels which are added to, blended with or used straight as transport diesel.
• Other liquid biofuels: liquid biofuels, used directly as fuel, not included in bio-gasoline or biodiesels.

Bio-gas from biomass (REN_BIOG)

The holding uses bio-gas from biomass to produce energy.

• 1 - Yes
• 0 - No

Bio-gas

Bio-gas refers to gases composed principally of methane and carbon dioxide produced by anaerobic fermentation of biomass, or by thermal processes. Bio-gas can be produced from animal slurries, abattoir waste, breweries and other agri-food industries. It can also be formed by the digestion of landfilled waste or produced from the anaerobic fermentation of sewage sludge.

Solar energy (thermal) (REN_SOL_TH)

The holding uses solar panels to produce thermal energy.

• 1 - Yes
• 0 - No

Solar radiation is exploited for hot water production in solar thermal-electric plants, or equipment for the production of domestic hot water (e.g. using flat plate collectors, mainly of the thermosyphon typeMention again that solar panels to produce hot water for the household are excluded. ).

Solar energy (photovoltaic) (REN_SOL_PV)

The holding uses solar panels to produce photovoltaic energy.

• 1 - Yes
• 0 - No

Solar radiation is converted into electricity by the use of solar cells/panels which exposed to sunlight will generate electricity.

Hydro-energy (REN_HYD)

The holding uses hydraulic generators to produce energy.

• 1 - Yes
• 0 - No

Potential and kinetic energy of water is converted into electricity in hydroelectric plants.

Other sources (REN_OTH)

The holding produces renewable energy from other sources n.e.c.

• 1 - Yes
• 0 - No