It is around $7-8 per acre for custom guys around us.
Custom spreading rates
Looking for custom rates for fertilizer spreading in the sask rental rate guide but they don’t have any spreaders listed.
This would be for a variable rate spin spreader.
Does anyone know what this might be on a per acre basis? I know fuel/operator/etc will vary it a bit.
This would be for a variable rate spin spreader.
Does anyone know what this might be on a per acre basis? I know fuel/operator/etc will vary it a bit.
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floating is 9-10/ac around here including fertilizer delivery. not sure about spin spreaders.
Looking for an update- what are custom spray rates around your area for a ground rig?
I don't know what area you are referring to but I charge $6 for 5GPA, $7 for 10GPA, $8 for 15 GPA. That is for where I am with mostly decent size fields and relatively flat. Small, cut up fields with lots of obstacles expect tp p[ay MUCH more in some cases. We charge by the acre (because that is easy for the customer to understand) but it is REALLY calculated by the hour. If a field is unreasonably rough I won't even spray it but if I am already loaded before I see the field, then I charge by the hour ($24 per minute starting when I kick on the booms and stopping when the field is finished). I have not had to do this for quite a few years as I TRY not to spray outside of my regular customers and they are real farmers so no situations like that.
LTK, I would assume you are supplying the water, do you pick up chemical too? I think if we hired out, we'd be paying 9.50/ac in those terms for 5 - 10 gal/ac.
I supply the water but the customer supplies the chem and delivers it to the field. It's tough to nail down a reasonable rate for someone else because situation can be VERY different, Steve Simon, the inventor of the accu-volume is a custom applicator in Ontario. IIRC, his rate is somewhere around $10 or $12 per acre but is AVERAGE field size is 40 acres and his AVERAGE water volume is 15 GPA. For him, 800 acres is a HUGE day. For me, 1500 acres is an average day and 2000 is a good day. If he charged my rates, he would go out of business pretty quick. If I charged HIS rates, I would go out of business pretty quick because I do not provide that much value and the customers would do it themselves. I can also run relatively cheap because I don't give my profits away to the equipment dealers. If I was to trade sprayers every couple years, I would have shiny equipment, but to achieve the same profit levels to support MY business and family, I would have to charge more because too much of what I make would have to go to equipment payments. That, IMO would not be fair to my customers to make them pay more just so I can run a shiny sprayer. There is no added value to my customer. I have a responsibility to my customers to be as efficient as I can be so I can keep my rates as low as possible while still staying in business.
I like your concept of by the hour if the field is rough. Rough fields are too hard on equipment that is expensive to replace, and the per acre rate not really appropriate in that situation. Sometimes you don't know until you get to the field that it is rough.I don't know what area you are referring to but I charge $6 for 5GPA, $7 for 10GPA, $8 for 15 GPA. That is for where I am with mostly decent size fields and relatively flat. Small, cut up fields with lots of obstacles expect tp p[ay MUCH more in some cases. We charge by the acre (because that is easy for the customer to understand) but it is REALLY calculated by the hour. If a field is unreasonably rough I won't even spray it but if I am already loaded before I see the field, then I charge by the hour ($24 per minute starting when I kick on the booms and stopping when the field is finished). I have not had to do this for quite a few years as I TRY not to spray outside of my regular customers and they are real farmers so no situations like that.
I wonder about the narrowing of rates between ground vs air rigs - I think gap between the cost of a new ground sprayer and an air tractor has narrowed substantially in the past couple years.
A local farmer used to do custom spraying. He was hired to spray a field that he was told was not too rough. He loaded the sprayer with roundup in the yard and went to the field to find is was plowed. He stopped cracked the valve and dumped the load in the ditch, loaded up his sprayer and went home. I USED to not uncharge for rough ground and hitting a rough field` would make me VERY cranky. Then I started to charge by the minute and took my time. You era right, just charging my "normal hourly rate" does account of the added wear and tear so I go REAL slow. Haven't had that issue for many years now.I like your concept of by the hour if the field is rough. Rough fields are too hard on equipment that is expensive to replace, and the per acre rate not really appropriate in that situation. Sometimes you don't know until you get to the field that it is rough.
Pretty sure that a ground rig costs more than an air tractor to purchase but not as much to operate.I wonder about the narrowing of rates between ground vs air rigs - I think gap between the cost of a new ground sprayer and an air tractor has narrowed substantially in the past couple years.
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