The 2011 Custom Rate Survey was recently posted on the Ag Decision Maker web site. The survey is based on responses from 179 Iowa farmers, custom operators, and farm managers. For each operation, the average rate from the survey and the range are shown. Twenty-two percent of the respondents perform custom work, 14 percent hire work done, and 64 percent indicated doing both. The rate schedule is intended only as a guide. Actual custom rates may vary according to availability of machinery in a given area, timeliness, operator skill, field size and shape, crop conditions, and the performance characteristics of the machine being used.
To find out your actual cost of ownership and operation, a Decision Tool is available. The spreadsheet allows you to choose the type of machinery, and then enter purchase price, usage, field capacity, and current price of fuel to calculate the cost of ownership and operation. The spreadsheet allows you to calculate costs based on the life of the equipment, for the rest of its useful life, or for the current year only. The Custom Rate Survey is available from Ag Decision Maker here.
Ag Decision Maker (AgDM)
An agricultural economics and business web site.
