A probabilistic dynamic programming model of rape seed harvesting

We discuss a practical scenario from an operations scheduling viewpoint involving commercial contracting enterprises that visit farms in order to harvest rape seed crops. We report on a probabilistic dynamic programming formulation that was designed specifically for scenarios of the type described. The paper is an extension of previous work from the deterministic one-farm case to allow for: the specific considerations necessary to harvest a particular crop, namely rape seed, harvesting at multiple farms, machine failure, and the fact that activity duration times are uncertain. The computational times experienced in solving practical instances of the formulation are encouraging.