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2002 Farm Custom Work Rate Guide For the Shenandoah Valley
Farm Business Management Update, April 2002
By Bill Whittle and Jack Dunford
In late 2001, the Farm Business Management Agents in the Northwest Extension District, cooperating with other Extension Agents, surveyed farmers and custom operators familiar with custom-work rates in their localities. The survey instrument was prepared by the Farm Business Management Agents, mailed to farmers by participating Extension Agents in ten counties, and the 246 usable responses were tabulated and distributed to the local Extension offices by the Farm Business Management Agents.
The table reports the job, the unit for which the charge is quoted (acre, hour, bale, etc.), the number of usable responses for each job, and the lowest and highest reported values. The last column states the Shenandoah Valley average of all quotes. Extremely high and low quotes were not included in the guide. For many jobs the quotes were bunched close to the reported average which gives credibility to a majority of the averages, especially where a large number of responses were received for a particular job.
| Job | Unit | Average Shenandoah Valley | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Low | High | |||
| Hay And Pasture | |||||
| Bush Hog (Rotary Cutter) | Acre | 17 | $8.00 | $30.00 | $15.35 |
| Hour | 32 | $12.00 | $50.00 | $30.73 | |
| Mow | Acre | 13 | $8.00 | $20.00 | $11.73 |
| Mow/Condition | Acre | 25 | $5.00 | $20.00 | $11.76 |
| Hour | 16 | $10.00 | $50.00 | $28.88 | |
| Tedder | Acre | 9 | $4.00 | $15.00 | $8.06 |
| Hour | 3 | $15.00 | $25.00 | $21.67 | |
| Rake | Acre | 13 | $4.00 | $15.00 | $9.38 |
| Hour | 5 | $15.00 | $25.00 | $22.00 | |
| Bale Small Square Bales | Bale | 27 | $0.20 | $1.25 | $0.58 |
| Bale 400-800 Lb. Large Square Bales | Bale | 18 | $3.25 | $8.00 | $5.72 |
| Bale 800 Lb. Large Round Bales | Bale | 58 | $2.50 | $12.00 | $6.04 |
| Bale 1500 Lb. Large Round Bales | Bale | 41 | $3.00 | $12.00 | $7.13 |
| Cut, Rake, Bale (Small Square Bales) | Bale | 12 | $1.00 | $1.50 | $1.22 |
| Cut, Rake, Bale (800 Lb. Large Round Bales) | Bale | 17 | $8.00 | $19.00 | $11.97 |
| Cut, Rake, Bale (1500 Lb. Large Round Bales) | Bale | 10 | $8.00 | $25.00 | $14.38 |
| Bale Wrapping (Equipment & Operator) | Bale | 20 | $2.00 | $8.00 | $4.24 |
| Tillage Operations | |||||
| Moldboard Plow | Acre | 6 | $20.00 | $30.00 | $23.33 |
| Chisel Plow | Acre | 7 | $7.00 | $40.00 | $19.57 |
| Subsoiling | Acre | 8 | $12.00 | $60.00 | $27.25 |
| Offset Disk | Acre | 5 | $13.00 | $35.00 | $19.60 |
| Tandem Disk | Acre | 5 | $8.00 | $20.00 | $11.20 |
| Harrow | Acre | 3 | $4.75 | $20.00 | $10.92 |
| Planting | |||||
| Corn - Conventional | Acre | 11 | $9.00 | $24.00 | $13.45 |
| Corn - No-Till | Acre | 41 | $8.00 | $20.00 | $13.59 |
| Soybeans - Conventional | Acre | 3 | $12.00 | $18.00 | $14.00 |
| Soybeans - No-Till | Acre | 7 | $12.00 | $20.00 | $16.00 |
| Soybeans - Drill | Acre | 3 | $7.00 | $8.00 | $7.67 |
| Small Grain - Drill | Acre | 10 | $6.00 | $18.00 | $11.20 |
| Small Grain - No-Till | Acre | 18 | $8.00 | $18.00 | $10.69 |
| Clover And Grass Seeding - Drill | Acre | 7 | $7.00 | $15.00 | $11.14 |
| Clover And Grass Seeding - No-Till | Acre | 18 | $7.00 | $20.00 | $10.94 |
| Grain Crop Harvesting | |||||
| Picking Corn | Acre | 14 | $20.00 | $40.00 | $26.57 |
| Hour | 3 | $25.00 | $75.00 | $43.33 | |
| Combining Corn | Acre | 39 | $20.00 | $55.00 | $28.44 |
| Hour | 8 | $24.00 | $100.00 | $62.00 | |
| Combining Soybeans | Acre | 20 | $22.00 | $40.00 | $27.85 |
| Hour | 4 | $30.00 | $100.00 | $81.25 | |
| Combining Small Grains | Acre | 33 | $20.00 | $40.00 | $27.53 |
| Hour | 5 | $40.00 | $100.00 | $78.00 | |
| Hauling Grain | Bushel | 21 | $0.05 | $0.40 | $0.16 |
| Loaded Mile | 5 | $1.00 | $2.50 | $1.84 | |
| Silage Harvest | |||||
| Tractor And Harvester | Acre | 3 | $45.00 | $60.00 | $51.67 |
| Hour | 10 | $23.50 | $100.00 | $56.35 | |
| Self Propelled Harvester | Hour | 18 | $60.00 | $300.00 | $168.33 |
| Ton | 3 | $2.00 | $6.00 | $3.67 | |
| Hauling Silage | Hour | 16 | $35.00 | $65.00 | $47.38 |
| Complete Job In Silo | |||||
| Upright | Hour | 3 | $50.00 | $400.00 | $190.00 |
| Bunker | Ton | 3 | $6.00 | $7.00 | $6.50 |
| Bag | Hour | 4 | $35.00 | $245.00 | $126.25 |
| Ton | 3 | $5.00 | $7.00 | $6.00 | |
| Manure Spreading | |||||
| Liquid Manure Spreading (3,000 Gal. Tank) | Hour | 20 | $45.00 | $65.00 | $47.85 |
| Poultry Litter Spreading | Hour | 10 | $35.00 | $60.00 | $43.70 |
| Ton | 9 | $2.00 | $8.00 | $4.67 | |
| Livestock Trucking | |||||
| Per Head | Loaded Mile | 4 | $0.20 | $2.50 | $0.90 |
| 2 Ton Truck | Loaded Mile | 13 | $1.20 | $3.55 | $1.98 |
| Semi-Trailer | Loaded Mile | 7 | $2.00 | $3.00 | $2.29 |
| Gooseneck Trailer | Loaded Mile | 46 | $0.75 | $3.50 | $1.83 |
| Other | |||||
| Large Bulldozer | Hour | 31 | $40.00 | $150.00 | $74.29 |
| Small Bulldozer | Hour | 21 | $25.00 | $90.00 | $53.81 |
| Backhoe | Hour | 38 | $35.00 | $65.00 | $46.89 |
| Driving Posts | Post | 16 | $0.75 | $4.00 | $1.81 |
| Digging Post Holes | Hole | 11 | $1.00 | $4.00 | $2.36 |
| Labor for Fence Building | Hour | 21 | $7.00 | $25.00 | $12.24 |
| Per Foot | 15 | $0.95 | $2.60 | $1.54 | |
| Lime Application | Acre | 10 | $4.00 | $10.00 | $6.63 |
| Fertilizer Application | Acre | 43 | $2.00 | $7.50 | $5.75 |
| Chemical Application (Spray) | Acre | 39 | $2.60 | $8.00 | $5.85 |
| Sheep Shearing | Head | 39 | $1.75 | $5.00 | $2.44 |
| Equipment Rental | |||||
| Bale Wrapping Machine | Bale | 10 | $1.50 | $8.00 | $3.42 |
| Silage Bagging Machine(includes 9*150 foot bag) | Bale | 13 | $435.00 | $950.00 | $666.54 |
| No-Till Drill | Acre | 45 | $4.00 | $15.00 | $8.29 |
| Litter Manure Spreader | Day | 11 | $60.00 | $150.00 | $110.91 |
| Ton | 6 | $0.75 | $5.00 | $2.13 | |
| Rent Tractor | |||||
| 75 HP | Hour | 9 | $10.00 | $125.00 | $35.94 |
| 75-100 HP | Hour | 8 | $10.00 | $150.00 | $46.25 |
| 100+ HP | Hour | 5 | $25.00 | $175.00 | $70.80 |
Contact the author at wwhittle@vt.edu
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