Custom rates for early-season operations for 2010 are now available at http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/North_Dakota/Publications/Custom_Rates/index.asp.

Operations covered in this report include tillage, planting, fertilizer and pesticide application, haying operations and other custom work.

“Average reported rates for most operations increased 10 to 20 percent over the last survey conducted in 2007,” says Dwight Aakre, North Dakota State University Extension Service farm management specialist. “This report includes the number of reports summarized for each operation, as well as the range of rates, the most frequent rate reported and the average of all reports.”

Historical data is included for several operations and covers surveys going back to 1986. The data for 2010 also is broken down into four regions for many of the operations.

Custom rates include equipment, power, fuel and labor.

“Custom rates represent the market price for the services performed and may differ from the actual cost of ownership and the operation of farm machinery,” Aakre says.

A survey of late-season custom rates will be conducted in September and October. This survey will cover harvesting, grain drying, hauling rates for grain, hay and other crops and other miscellaneous operations. This report will be available in December.

NDSU Agriculture Communication