Custom machine rates guide

Editor’s note: This article is from the archives of the MSU Crop Advisory Team Alerts. Check the label of any pesticide referenced to ensure your use is included.

Many farmers hire some farm work to be done or else perform custom work for others. What is a fair amount to charge or to pay for such work? Dennis Stein, Extension Educator, District Farm Business Management for MSU Extension has surveyed farmers in the Thumb area of Michigan regarding custom machine hire. The numbers below represent his lastest survey of October 2008.

Below are listed some custom machine rate numbers for the following jobs that might be helpful for farmers as they settle up accounts for spring work. The following numbers are average rates, which means half of the survey numbers are lower and half are higher. All rates are per acre unless otherwise noted.

  • Moldboard plowing $18.44
  • Chisel plowing $13.96
  • Mulch tilling (disk-chisel) $15.20
  • V-ripping (14 inches deep) $18.43
  • Tandem disking $11.40
  • Field cultivator $10.58
  • No-till corn planting $16.60
  • Drilled, minimum till soybeans $15.28
  • Mowing and conditioning hay $14.12
  • Baling small square bales of hay $ .52 per bale
  • Baling small square bales of straw $ .50 per bale
  • Pest control: Scouting $ 5.00
  • Custom farming: Soybeans $78.50
  • Custom farming: Corn $89.55
  • Pull type pesticide spraying $ 6.40
  • Harvesting wheat $26.08

The price of diesel fuel in the above numbers is $3.15 per gallon. This survey is available on the internet at: www.msu.edu/user/steind.

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