[davedan]

Excluding hauling costs, what should a guy charge in heavy grain corn? Is a flat rate per acre a good way to go or go so much per bushel? Ive never harvested corn but am going to give it a go this season using my 9600 with an 8 row head. Thanks to all.

 

[cardinalref]

You might want to look on your state extension office website to get the custom rates. In Ohio, custom harvesting corn is anywhere from $21.53 to $26.47 with an average rate of $24.00 an acre. You could go so much an acre and if it yields so much over xxx then you get a few extra cents over that yield level.

 

[tractor8100]

check out www.nass.usda.gov. select custom rates and check around the various states. I did not anything on there for California. Kansas has a good custom rate schedule, which is what i use with my brother on my farms in Kansas. They are pretty close. The main difference in California is labor, if you are paying your combine driver more than $10/hour, then you might want to adjust up slightly from the Kansas rate, diesel is higher in California also. The Ohio rates quoted above are in the range. I paid 15-15-15 for wheat harvest this year, so 24-26 should be in range for corn.

 

[tractor8100]

By the way, it does not matter what model combine you have, it is still the same rate. An 8010 or a 9600, will cost the same to harvest, considering depreciation, fuel, labor etc. Dont adjust for machine model.

 

[davedan]

I have to disagree with not trying to figure a little different rate for different machines. Some machines use more fuel per acre than others. I guess Its a matter of what you can do given the conditions also. Does not surprise me that there are any sort of state standards for California. Fuel, labor, are huge factors when considering the costs involved with California cutting over other states but other huge factors can effecrt your bottom dollar like property taxes and insurance. Paying a wage to a man is one thing, being able to have a man is another. I like others have had issues with keeping rates where they need to be in order for me to make a living, but when an outsider from another state comes in with his out of state rates, it really screws up the market for the locals.
I dont want to start a fight but I know what California takes from me and my business compared to other states.

 

[davedan]

I forgot to add that 24.00 flat per acre is too cheap in my opinion, considering the amount of wear it puts on a machine compared to lets say barley or wheat which I get paid much more for per acre.
I guess now would be a good time to ask what all you guys are paying for your fuel in your state. Here it averaged 2.64 a gallon during summer harvest.

 

[tractor8100]

I should have added "per acre" on the cost, or the charge to the customer. Agreed, combines that burn more fuel should be more productive, i.e. harvesting more acres per hour due to more capacity, etc..

 

[davedan]

Ive seen supposed higher capacity machines burn more fuel and cut less acres side by side of a 9600. They had more horsepower than was needed to do the job, cutting heavy crops with moderate to rough ground conditions. If the grain is heavy and laying down thats another story, more fuel does not mean more productivity.

 

[galvanizedgreg]

Used to be locally in Kansas, .25 cents/bushel cut and hauled. Knock off a dime for hauling. Up the rate cause this was 10 years ago. I would say somewhere around 20- 22 cents /bushel combine only.