Barry Ward, Director, OSU Extension Income Tax School Program; Leader, Production Business Management
Eric Richer, Associate Professor and Field Specialist, Farm Management
John Barker, OSU Extension Educator ANR, Knox County
Amanda Bennett, OSU Extension Educator ANR, Miami County
Farming
is a complex business and many Ohio farmers utilize outside assistance for specific farm-related work. This option is appealing for tasks requiring specialized equipment or technical expertise. Often, having someone else with specialized tools perform tasks is more cost-effective and saves time. Farm work completed by others is often referred to as “custom farm work” or more simply, “custom work.” A “custom rate” is the amount agreed upon by both parties to be paid by the custom work customer to the custom work provider.
Custom rates increased for the majority of field operations in 2024 as compared to surveyed rates in 2022 but the increases did vary by operation. Examples include an increase of 6% for Planting Corn (30 Inch Rows with Fertilizer Application), 5.6% for Harvesting Corn (Combine, Grain Cart, Haul Local to Farm), 21% for Spraying (Self-Propelled Sprayer, Crop Protection Chemicals), and 24% for Field Cultivator.
New field operations in this year’s survey and summary include drone/UAV application and cover crop seeding.
Ohio farm custom rates
The “Ohio Farm Custom Rates 2024” publication reports custom rates based on a statewide survey of 333 farmers, custom operators, farm managers, and landowners conducted in 2024. These rates, except where noted, include the implement and tractor if required, all variable machinery costs such as fuel, oil, lube, twine, etc., and labor for the operation.
Some custom rates published in this study vary widely, possibly influenced by:
- Type or size of equipment used (e.g. 20-shank chisel plow versus a 9-shank)
- Size and shape of fields
- Condition of the crop (for harvesting operations)
- Skill level of labor
- Amount of labor needed in relation to the equipment capabilities
- Cost margin differences for full-time custom operators compared to farmers supplementing current income.
Some custom rates reflect discounted rates as the parties involved have family or community relationships. Discounted rates may also occur when the custom work provider is attempting to strengthen a relationship to help secure the custom farmed land in a future purchase, cash rental or other rental agreement. Some providers charge differently because they are simply attempting to spread their fixed costs over more acreage to decrease fixed costs per acre and are willing to forgo complete cost recovery.
Charges may be added if the custom provider considers a job abnormal such as distance from the operator’s base location, difficulty of terrain, amount of product or labor involved with the operation, or other special requirements of the custom work customer.
The data from this survey are intended to show a representative farming industry cost for specified machines and operations in Ohio. As a custom farm work provider, the average rates reported in this publication may not cover your total costs for performing the custom service. As a customer, you may not be able to hire a custom service for the average rate published in this factsheet.
It is recommended that you calculate your own costs carefully before determining the custom rate to charge or pay. It may be helpful to compare the custom rates reported in this fact sheet with machinery costs calculated by economic engineering models available online. The following resources are available to help you calculate and consider the total costs of performing a given machinery operation.
- Farm Machinery Cost Estimates, available by searching University of Minnesota.
- Illinois Farm Management Handbook, available by searching University of Illinois farmdoc.
- Estimating Farm Machinery Costs, available by searching Iowa State University agriculture decision maker and machinery management.
Volatility in diesel price may sometimes cause concern for custom rate providers that seek to cover all or most of the costs associated with custom farm operations. The approximate price of diesel fuel during the survey period (January – April 2024) ranged from $3.20 – $3.50 per gallon for off-road (farm) usage. As a custom farm work provider, if you feel that your rate doesn’t capture your full costs due to fuel price increases you might consider a custom rate increase or fuel surcharge based on the increase in fuel costs.
The complete “Ohio Farm Custom Rates 2024” publication is available online at the Farm Office website.
By: Alan Leininger
Read all about it, the 2022 Northwest Ohio ANR Newsletter is hot off the press. This newsletter features extension programs throughout Northwest Ohio and the online version is available by clicking 
