This is Dr. Nathan Mueller, your local agronomist with Nebraska Extension in Dodge and Washington Counties. Even though soybean harvest is finished and corn harvest is in full swing, you may not have determined a custom rate for combining or hauling grain yet with your neighbor.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln conducts a survey with custom operators for each Ag Statistics Reporting District in Nebraska on custom farm rates by operation, such as hauling with a truck. The Northeast Nebraska district falls north of the Dodge/Cuming County line and the East district falls to the south of this line. For a map of the districts within Nebraska and the 2014 survey results, visit our website at croptechcafe.org.
Four values are reported for each operation, the average rate, most common rate, the range, and how many reports these values were based on. For example in the East District, the average rate for combining irrigated corn including the tractor and grain cart was 35.92/acre, the most common rate was 35/acre, and the range was 30 to 45/acre and these values were based on 13 custom operators in the district.
A list of the most common custom operation rates in the East District that I have been getting questions on include:
- Combining irrigated or dryland corn including the tractor and grain cart at $35/acre,
- Combining soybeans including the tractor and gain cart at $30/acre,
- And hauling grain with a truck at $0.10/bu where the average distance hauled was 13 miles.
Iowa State University conducts an annual custom rate survey. Their results provide the average and range in custom operations across the state of Iowa.
For more information about custom farm rate survey results, contact me at 727-2775 or visit our locally-focused website at croptechcafe.org to find digital copies of the surveys for Nebraska and Iowa. Know your crop, know your tech, know your bottom line. This is Dr. Nathan Mueller, your local agronomist for Nebraska Extension on KTIC radio.
2014 Nebraska Farm Custom Rates – Part II
2014 Nebraska Farm Custom Rates – Part I
2015 Iowa Farm Custom Rate Survey
