Structure and classification of production processes in agriculture

Anatomy of the workflow: from production period to movement

Any agricultural production consists of two parts: the time of natural growth of crops or livestock and the time of direct application of human labor. Their ratio determines the main economic factor of the industry — seasonality. The production period covers the entire cycle from sowing or the establishment of a herd to obtaining the final product, including all biological, physical, and chemical changes. The working period is always shorter than the production one, as it is limited by the time taken to perform specific technological operations.

For competent labor rationing, calculation of equipment requirements, and cost optimization, any workflow is broken down into its constituent elements:

• Working period (operations) — direct execution of technological stages (in crop production — sowing, harvesting; in livestock production — preparation of feed, feeding, watering, tending).
• Operation — a technologically complete part of the work performed by a permanent operator at one workstation and using the same tools. Changing the unit, the field, or the worker means moving to a new operation.
• Step (task) — a completed goal-oriented action within an operation (for example, during manual loading of seed — carrying the bag to the seed drill, untying it, and pouring the seed).
• Movement — an elementary single shift of a worker's body, arms, or legs during the execution of a step.

As an example of a classic technological operation, one can consider the sowing of grain crops, consisting of a sequential cycle of actions:

1. Loading seed into the seed drill
2. Sowing
3. Turning and entering at the end of the pass

Classification of processes and methods of their organization over time

Depending on their role in creating the final product, all processes in an agricultural enterprise are divided into three categories. Main processes directly convert raw materials into finished products: in crop production, these are ploughing, cultivation, harrowing, sowing, and harvesting, and in livestock production — feed distribution and tending to the herd.

Auxiliary processes provide the production with resources for the internal needs of the enterprise. These include the generation of own energy or steam, repairs, and the manufacturing of spare parts in workshops. Servicing processes (transportation, warehouse accounting, storage of inventories, laboratory and technical control) do not create a new product but ensure the continuity of the main work.

The movement of production processes over time is organized in several ways depending on the technology and equipment used:

• Sequential movement — operations are performed strictly in turn. Characteristic of traditional tillage (ploughing, discing, and harrowing are carried out sequentially).
• Parallel movement — a workflow is performed simultaneously on several objects. Used, for example, in livestock production in a continuous-flow dairy farming system using "Carousel" milking parlors.
• Parallel-sequential movement — straight-through processing where several operations are combined in one technological unit. A clear example is the operation of modern grain and forage harvesters.

Completion of the production cycle and market access

Parallel and parallel-sequential types of movement of means of labor allow for the optimization of working time on a farm. Competent organization of machinery and equipment in these modes makes it possible to significantly reduce the total duration of the production process.

At the same time, the production process itself in agriculture is not limited to field or greenhouse work — it concludes in the sphere of circulation. It is here that the harvested crop undergoes final processing and is directed to the end consumer.

Advancing the produced goods to the point of sale involves a set of mandatory stages:

• sorting;
• packaging;
• storage;
• technical control;
• delivery to the point of sale.