This is Nathan Mueller, UNL Cropping Systems Extension Educator in Fremont, NE. Even though soybean harvest is mostly finished up and has moved into corn, you may not have determined a custom rate for combining or hauling grain yet.
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 survey results, visit my blog 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.
Again to read the full survey report of the 2014 Nebraska Custom Rates for harvest, visit my blog at croptechcafe.org or call me at 402-727-2775 to check what the custom rate surveyed was for a certain harvest operation. Again, my phone number is 402-727-2775.
This is Nathan Mueller, UNL Cropping Systems Extension Educator on KTIC radio. Have a safe and successful harvest.
