By Robert Battel
The
2018 Custom Machine and Work Rate Estimates fact sheet from Michigan State University Extension is now available. It contains averages of several different university survey results on rates paid for farm custom machinery work. This information is intended to give farmers looking to hire a custom operator or custom operators a starting point in negotiating a price for various services.
The fact sheet includes custom rates averaged from all the surveys and maximum and minimum rates reported. The University of Minnesota provides total machine cost per acre, machine rates per hour and estimates of acres per hour fuel usage for many of the machines. The report also lists hourly rates for tractor rentals as well as farm labor costs.
In addition to the University of Minnesota, other university resources included to compile these results include Iowa State University, Kansas State University, University of Kentucky, University of Illinois, University of Wisconsin and Oklahoma State University.
This fact sheet is intended to be a guide and therefore all producers are encouraged to develop their own custom rates based on tradition or usual rates set in the community. A worksheet on the final page of the fact sheet is provided for their own machinery costs to calculate cost of ownership and custom rates for various pieces of machinery.