In addition, some (but not all) mechanization is subject to genuine economies of scale: it is technically more efficient to design a large rather than a small machine. Even machines invented in countries with abundant labor (and therefore smaller farms) were first developed for the largest farms, because they had the lowest costs of capital relative to labor.The market for machines expanded to smaller farms only when labor costs rose or capital became more abundant. In the history of engineering, technical developments have often been embodied in smaller and smaller machines.
Japan, in particular, has developed many machines for small farms and plots. For certain operations, mechanization spreads to small farms when machinery can be rented rather than bought. For a rental market to be established, the optimal farm size for owning a machine must be bigger than that of numerous small farms. In addition, it is easier to establish rental markets for operations that do not need to be done on all farms at the same time: threshing and milling are examples.

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In addition, some (but not all) mechanization is subject to genuine economies of scale: it is technically more efficient to design a large rather than a small machine. Even machines invented in countries with abundant labor (and therefore smaller farms) were first developed for the largest farms, because they had the lowest costs of capital relative to labor.The market for machines expanded to smaller farms only when labor costs rose or capital became more abundant. In the history of engineering, technical developments have often been embodied in smaller and smaller machines.
Japan, in particular, has developed many machines for small farms and plots. For certain operations, mechanization spreads to small farms when machinery can be rented rather than bought. For a rental market to be established, the optimal farm size for owning a machine must be bigger than that of numerous small farms. In addition, it is easier to establish rental markets for operations that do not need to be done on all farms at the same time: threshing and milling are examples.

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