Koszty zbioru buraków cukrowych a zespołowe użytkowanie maszyn

Statistical analysis of sugar beet production costs of Polish farmsteads indicate a considerable share of mechanization costs. Solely the mechanical harvesting costs amount up to 19% of production costs. It is therefore advisable to look for economies within this particular cost group. This can be done by improving utilization levels: a machine owner could provide services for other farmers, machines could be bought and shared by a number of farmers, or machine harvesting could be outsourced. The paper investigates into the types, age and level of utilization of sugar beet harvesting machines in Lublin region farmsteads. Operating costs of the most common harvesting sets have been calculated. On their basis, the potential scale of savings on improved utilization levels has been estimated.