Introduction
This publication is the result of an October survey
conducted by USDA's North Dakota Agricultural Statistics
Service. Over 1,700 reports from farmers and ranchers,
elevators, custom combiners, and other custom operators were
tabulated. The survey is designed to provide state and regional
averages for custom work rates. The late season survey has been
conducted every three years since 1962, except during 1980 -
1986 when it was conducted every other year.
Appreciation is expressed to all survey participants who
provided the data for this report and also to the North Dakota
State University County and State Extension Service personnel
for their assistance on this project. Funding was provided by
the North Dakota State University Experiment Station and
Extension Service.
The Data
This report contains state and regional level custom work
rates for harvesting, drying, and hauling crops, seed
preparation, hauling hay and livestock, and other custom work
for fall operations.
Included for each operation are the number of reports, the
range in rates, the most frequently reported rate, and the
average rate. Also included are state level 1995 average rates,
1998 rates as a percent of 1995 and historical comparisons back
to 1977 for selected operations. Regional averages are reported
where there were a sufficient number of reports. We advise the
reader to exercise discretion when using rates where less than
fifteen reports were tabulated.
The range shows the minimum and maximum for each custom
operation. The range is affected by the locality of the reporter
and the size of the custom operator. A farmer/rancher who
does a small amount of custom work for his neighbors may
charge less than a large-scale operator. No adjustments are
made for this or other special circumstances.
Several questions were added to this year's survey.
Respondents were given the option to report an hourly rate for
the harvesting sections and for rental rates on combines and
swathers.
The rates in this report are averages, not estimates. They
include charges for equipment, power, fuel and the operator.
Exchange work was not considered custom work for this survey.
Late Season Custom Rates Contents
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