what to charge for shredding?

[WTA]

My neighbor is retired now and has a full section of land in CRP. He has to mow it twice a year and he has asked me to give him a quote on doing it for him. I only own 25 acres here and have no idea what to say. I asked around and most people tell me between 20 and 30 dollars an acre is what they would charge but does that apply when it's over 600 acres that you are talking about also?

I'd like to get the job doing it for him but I don't want to over charge him and I certainly don't want to lose money.

I still haven't figured out how many acres an hour I can do since I haven't had my shredder very long but I have a 14 footer and it cuts just about anything that gets in it's way. My tractor is pretty efficient on the diesel too. It's a new 95 horse NH tractor.

What do you all think would be a fair price to charge? Fuel here is 4 bucks a gallon for off road diesel right now.

 

[rdbigfarmboy]

I would think $20 per acre is a little cheap. It depends on how smooth the land is and how much growth to cut. You need to get at leat 100 per hour for the machinery. Then decide what your time is worth.

 

[deereguy]

Google Custom Farm Rates from Ohio State University from 2006, info is a good base to start off of.

I have a 5' Bush hog behind a 33HP tractor and can do about 1 acre/hour (under the right conditions), also have a 15' hog behind a 85HP tractor and would guess it will do 3 acres/hour...under the right conditions (limited to no trees/flat/no obstructions).

If I recall a section is a HUGE partial of land- charge according to what you feel comfortable with.

Good Luck!

 

[Farmwithjunk]

You can't figure the same hourly rate for a 33hp/5' mower as you would 85hp/15'. That should be fairly self explanatory.

Economy of scale should allow smaller charge/more profit per acre on large acreage IF you use big enough equipment.

I own a mowing business that specializes in large acreage, highway right of ways, ect. We occasionally use smaller tractor/mower combo's as a "weedeater" to cut tight areas, but the lions share of our mowing is now done with 15' batwings. In wide open, fairly level, clean ground, (ideal conditions) we can average 5 to 7 acres per hour. This size equipment is worth $135 to $150 per hour in a competitive market, in this immediate area. That translates to roughly $22 to $27 an acre. The "going rate" 2 years ago was around $16 to $20 per acre here for mowing CRP land. Fuel, insurance, equipment cost, and labor have made those prices obsolete. Prices should take into account transportation time/cost, terrain/conditions that would slow down progress to less than high average, ect.

As I mentioned, larger acreage usually means less per acre than a 1 or 2 acre cut, but by the same token, not all that many contract cutters are equipped to handle 600+ acres.

 

[WTA]

Thanks for the replies.
This land here is just as flat as it can be so that is a good thing. There is one drainage ditch running down the middle of it that's about a mile long but I can get into that just fine with the 8 foot bush hog. My main mower is a 14 footer and will cut through anything that gets in it's way. I do wish sometimes it was a batwing but I can't afford one of those just yet.

I think a section of land is 640 acres. I could be wrong but that sounds right. I guess I need to figure it out before I tell him a price.

FWIW, I was able to shred off my 7 acre bermuda pasture a few days ago in just about an hour and a half. Its clean and flat and I was able to get some speed up in the straight runs. The neighbors property won't be much harder I don't think. The wost thing out there is little live oak saplings if we have a wet year.

 

[flusher]

Thanks for the replies.
This land here is just as flat as it can be so that is a good thing. There is one drainage ditch running down the middle of it that's about a mile long but I can get into that just fine with the 8 foot bush hog. My main mower is a 14 footer and will cut through anything that gets in it's way. I do wish sometimes it was a batwing but I can't afford one of those just yet.

I think a section of land is 640 acres. I could be wrong but that sounds right. I guess I need to figure it out before I tell him a price.

FWIW, I was able to shred off my 7 acre bermuda pasture a few days ago in just about an hour and a half. Its clean and flat and I was able to get some speed up in the straight runs. The neighbors property won't be much harder I don't think. The wost thing out there is little live oak saplings if we have a wet year.

Correct--640 acres per section.

Just mowed my neighbor's 7 acres of flat pasture yesterday with my new Mahindra 5525 (55 hp engine, 45 hp pto) and a 6-ft Hawkline brush hog. Took about 4.5 hours since I had to go slow in the few areas of tall weeds and this was the first time mowing that parcel. Did it as a favor and just charged for diesel. Need to get seat time anyway on the 5525. Did most of the mowing in 3rd gear low range and moved about 5 mph.

Mowing 600 acres even with a batwing is my idea of not much fun at all. Hope you have a nice a/c cab on that NH of yours.

 

[radman1]

I don't have any idea on the price to charge for mowing. However, doesn't CRP get about $55-60/acre payment? At $25/acre and mowing it twice, he won't have any income, especially after paying taxes on the land. In my area, they actually forbid the mowing of most CRP acres. Occassionally, it can be mowed and baled in dry years to supplement cattle for feed.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I don't have any idea on the price to charge for mowing. However, doesn't CRP get about $55-60/acre payment? At $25/acre and mowing it twice, he won't have any income, especially after paying taxes on the land. In my area, they actually forbid the mowing of most CRP acres. Occassionally, it can be mowed and baled in dry years to supplement cattle for feed.

Depending on what program they are in some require you to mow the property once to help control weeds. I don't know all of the specifics only what people have told me that are in this program.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Depending on what program they are in some require you to mow the property once to help control weeds. I don't know all of the specifics only what people have told me that are in this program.

CRP here in Kentucky requires mowing once (at a minimum) per year and as many additional times as required to control weeds. The intent of CRP payments ISN'T to turn a profit. The object is to offset cost of ownership of marginally productive farm land so it can be taken out of production. ( land that would be LUCKY to break even if used in conventional farming practices) Granted, SOME people make a buck or 2, but if and when a land owner decided to "farm out" the maintenance of CRP land, it's not unreasonable to expect cost to equal or exceed income from payments. Add in taxes along with current "going rates" for mowing, most CRP land would likely be in the red. The lions share of CRP land owners I know of own a tractor/mower and maintain their own land. Long term, that would be MUCH less expensive than contracting the mowing. I've got contracts to mow 2 different CRP properties. (220 acres and 145 acres) In both instances, these farms are owned by speculator/developers who know up front they aren't making a profit until the day the land sells. In both cases, the land has been in their families for long periods of time, with little or no farming activities carried out in ages. They're looking long term. The CRP money is simply an off-set to the cost of ownership. The land is relatively worthless as farm land. It is POTENTIALLY worth a bundle for home sites as the "big city" gradually moves that way.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

CRP here in Kentucky requires mowing once (at a minimum) per year and as many additional times as required to control weeds. The intent of CRP payments ISN'T to turn a profit. The object is to offset cost of ownership of marginally productive farm land so it can be taken out of production. ( land that would be LUCKY to break even if used in conventional farming practices) Granted, SOME people make a buck or 2, but if and when a land owner decided to "farm out" the maintenance of CRP land, it's not unreasonable to expect cost to equal or exceed income from payments. Add in taxes along with current "going rates" for mowing, most CRP land would likely be in the red. The lions share of CRP land owners I know of own a tractor/mower and maintain their own land. Long term, that would be MUCH less expensive than contracting the mowing. I've got contracts to mow 2 different CRP properties. (220 acres and 145 acres) In both instances, these farms are owned by speculator/developers who know up front they aren't making a profit until the day the land sells. In both cases, the land has been in their families for long periods of time, with little or no farming activities carried out in ages. They're looking long term. The CRP money is simply an off-set to the cost of ownership. The land is relatively worthless as farm land. It is POTENTIALLY worth a bundle for home sites as the "big city" gradually moves that way.

Thanks for explaining it better. I know a lot of the guys here don't mow their CRP land. My one neighbors land just came out of CRP contract this year and if you saw how tall the brush and trees are in her field you could get an idea how often she mowed her acerage But the county only tells you they will check, they don't really check up on people.