Abstract: The invention relates to a method (100) for operating an agricultural machine (1, 201) on a useful agricultural area (4, 5), comprising a traction vehicle (2) and a working appliance combination (3, 203) connected to the traction vehicle (2) in the form of a mower and/or rake, the harvest goods being processed with a plurality of working devices (33a-33d, 233a-233c), which are arranged so as to project from a carrying frame (31, 231a-231b) transversely with respect to the direction of travel (F) of the working device combination (3, 203), wherein the working appliances (33a-33d, 233a-233c) can each be raised and lowered independently of one another in order to move the working appliances either into a headland position or into engagement with the harvest goods, characterized in that when processing by means of a preferably satellite-assisted navigation system (21), position data of the working device combination (3, 203) is acquired continuously and, from the same, at least one already processed field area (4