CUSTOM FARMING RATES GUIDE
Custom farming rates: what to charge in 2026
What custom operators charge to combine, plant, spray, till and bale, by the acre and by the bale, what the hourly jobs pay — backhoe, land clearing, snow, fence — how two state surveys compare, how to adjust for fuel — and a free calculator that turns the figures into a price list for your website.
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The short answer
Combining corn costs $25 to $80 an acre, $46.05 on average, and soybeans $24 to $70, $43.05 on average (2026 Iowa Farm Custom Rate Survey, Iowa State University, March 2026; 205 responses). A complete corn harvest — combine, grain cart and the haul to farm storage — runs $40 to $175 an acre, $82 on average. The survey's rates include fuel, repairs, depreciation, interest and operator labor, and its ranges leave out the single lowest and highest answers.
Field work: planting row crops $15 to $38 an acre with no attachments, field cultivating $7.60 to $32 and ground spraying with a self-propelled sprayer $5 to $18, with the chemicals not included. Hay: large round bales with wrap $12 to $20 a bale, $15.75 on average, and small square bales $0.50 to $1.50. By the hour: backhoeing $70 to $200, clearing land $100 to $225, snow with a loader $50 to $200 and barbed-wire fence $35 to $50 without the materials (Iowa).
A second state reads close: Nebraska's 2024 survey puts dryland corn combining at $45.00 an acre on average ($30–$78), soybeans at $46.00 and net-wrapped round bales at $16.54 a bale (Nebraska Extension, May 2024), and leaves seed, fertilizer and chemicals out unless a rate says otherwise. The median agricultural equipment operator earns $20.06 an hour as an employee (O*NET, 2025 wages).
Then put your rates on your website: “custom farming rates” is Googled about 590 times a month and put to AI assistants about 290 times (DataForSEO, October 2026).
AT A GLANCE · NOVEMBER 2026
Custom farming rates at a glance
| The job | Typical US price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Combining corn, 160 acres (Iowa) | $4,000–$12,800 for 160 acres ($25–$80 per acre) | Iowa State University Extension, March 2026 |
| Combining soybeans, 160 acres (Iowa) | $3,840–$11,200 for 160 acres ($24–$70 per acre) | Iowa State University Extension, March 2026 |
| Planting row crops, 160 acres (Iowa) | $2,400–$6,080 for 160 acres ($15–$38 per acre) | Iowa State University Extension, March 2026 |
| Ground spraying, 160 acres (Iowa) | $800–$2,880 for 160 acres ($5–$18 per acre) | Iowa State University Extension, March 2026 |
| Large round bales with wrap, 200 bales (Iowa) | $2,400–$4,000 for 200 bales ($12–$20 per bale) | Iowa State University Extension, March 2026 |
| Backhoeing, per hour (Iowa) | $70–$200 | Iowa State University Extension, March 2026 |
The same published figures as the full rate table below; the calculator works out a price for your own job.
FREE PRICE CALCULATOR
What should I charge for this custom work?
Pick the job — combining, a complete harvest, planting, spraying, tillage or baling — set the acres or the bales, or pick an hourly job, then tick the grain cart or GPS mapping. The range is the 2026 Iowa survey's, with Nebraska's dryland corn rate alongside.
Suggested price
$4,000–$12,800
combining corn, per acre, 160 acres
A starting range from published state surveys — not your rate until you've costed your own machine, fuel and hours. Say on the list what's in the rate (fuel, operator) and what isn't (seed, fertilizer, chemicals).
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RATES · NOVEMBER 2026
Custom farming rates (2026)
What custom operators charge, from the 2026 Iowa Farm Custom Rate Survey (Iowa State University, March 2026; 205 responses, rates expected to be charged or paid in 2026, ranges excluding the single lowest and highest answers) and, for dryland corn, the 2024 Nebraska Farm Custom Rates survey (Nebraska Extension, May 2024; 159 responses). Iowa's rates include fuel, repairs, depreciation, interest, operator labor and the other machinery costs unless noted, and its spraying and fertilizer rates exclude the materials; Nebraska leaves seed, fertilizer and chemicals out unless a rate says otherwise.
| The job | Typical US price · source |
|---|---|
| Combining corn, per acre | $25–$80 per acre · about $4,000–$12,800 for 160 acres · Iowa State University Extension |
| Combining soybeans, per acre | $24–$70 per acre · about $3,840–$11,200 for 160 acres · Iowa State University Extension |
| Complete corn harvest (combine, grain cart, haul to farm storage), per acre | $40–$175 per acre · about $6,400–$28,000 for 160 acres · Iowa State University Extension |
| Planting row crops, no attachments, per acre | $15–$38 per acre · about $2,400–$6,080 for 160 acres · Iowa State University Extension |
| Ground spraying, self-propelled, per acre (chemicals not included) | $5–$18 per acre · about $800–$2,880 for 160 acres · Iowa State University Extension |
| Field cultivating, per acre | $7.60–$32 per acre · about $1,215–$5,120 for 160 acres · Iowa State University Extension |
| Baling large round bales with wrap, per bale | $12–$20 per bale · about $2,400–$4,000 for 200 bales · Iowa State University Extension |
| Baling small square bales, per bale | $0.50–$1.50 per bale · about $500–$1,500 for 1,000 bales · Iowa State University Extension |
| Hourly jobs, labor, fuel and equipment included | Backhoeing: $70–$200 · Clearing land: $100–$225 · Removing snow with a loader: $50–$200 · Mowing fence rows and ditches: $20–$150 · Chain sawing: $50–$120 · Welding machinery: $40–$110 · Power washing: $50–$100 · Building barbed-wire fence (no materials): $35–$50 · Iowa State University Extension |
| Combining dryland corn, Nebraska, per acre | $30–$78 per acre · about $4,800–$12,480 for 160 acres · Nebraska Extension |
Rates read off each publisher's page in November 2026. The calculator above uses exactly these numbers, rounded to whole dollars and to the nearest $5 from $100 up. Full source list below.
ADD-ONS AND ADJUSTMENTS
What the grain cart and mapping add
Per-acre charges on top of combining, from the 2026 Iowa survey.
| What | Typical US price · source |
|---|---|
| Grain cart for corn | +$3–$22 per acre · Iowa State University Extension |
| GPS mapping | +$1–$8 per acre · Iowa State University Extension |
Where a row shows a sum (a rate × a quantity, or a percentage worked out from published dollar ranges), the arithmetic is ours and the inputs are the publisher's.
THE PRICING FORMULA
How to set your custom farming rates
Six steps from the state survey to a rate that covers your machine.
Start from your state's survey
Iowa's 2026 survey puts corn combining at $46.05 an acre on average and $25–$80 across most answers; Nebraska's 2024 survey puts dryland corn at $45.00 and irrigated at $47.84. Read the average for the going rate and the range for how far a skilled operator or a hard field moves it.
Say what's in the rate
Iowa's rates include fuel, repairs, depreciation, interest and operator labor, and mark spraying and fertilizer application “materials not included”; Nebraska leaves seed, fertilizer and chemicals out unless a rate says otherwise. A spraying rate of $5–$18 an acre is for the pass, not the product (Iowa).
Cost your own machine
Nebraska Extension warns the survey rates don't necessarily measure the full cost of the work — some operators charge only fuel and labor — and says operators doing custom work on a commercial scale should account for machinery, labor and other expenses (May 2024). A rate below your own cost is a favor, not a business.
Adjust for fuel
Nebraska's worked example: if diesel rises $0.74 a gallon, from $3.26 to $4.00, and the job burns 0.80 gallons an acre, add $0.74 × 0.80 = $0.59 an acre to the rate. Iowa's 2026 rates assumed diesel at $2.89 a gallon in February 2026.
Price the extras by the acre
A grain cart adds $3–$22 an acre on corn and GPS mapping $1–$8 (Iowa). A complete harvest — combine, cart and haul to farm storage — is $40–$175 an acre against $25–$80 to combine alone.
Bill the odd jobs by the hour
Backhoeing $70–$200 an hour, clearing land $100–$225, snow with a loader $50–$200, welding machinery $40–$110 (Iowa, labor, fuel and equipment included). The employed equipment operator's median is $20.06 an hour (O*NET, 2025 wages) — the machine is most of the rate.
A harvest, worked through
Say a neighbor hires you to combine 160 acres of corn. At Iowa's $46.05 average that's $7,368; across the survey's $25–$80 range it's $4,000–$12,800. Running the grain cart at Iowa's $9.25 average adds $1,480; quoting the whole harvest at the $82 complete-harvest average instead is $13,120 (2026 survey).
If diesel is $0.74 a gallon above what your rate assumed and combining burns 0.80 gallons an acre, Nebraska's method adds $0.59 an acre — about $94 on the 160 acres.
On hay, 200 wrapped round bales at Iowa's $15.75 average is $3,150 ($2,400–$4,000 across its range); Nebraska's $16.54 average gives $3,308. So “combining $46 an acre, round bales $16 each, seed and chemicals extra” is a fair first line for your price list. The rates are the surveys'; the acreages and the sums are ours.
What to charge in your state
Custom rates are surveyed state by state, and the two read here sit close on the big jobs — corn combining averages $46.05 an acre in Iowa (2026) and $45.00 dryland or $47.84 irrigated in Nebraska (2024) — but drift apart on smaller ones: small square bales average $1.00 a bale in Iowa against $2.06 in Nebraska. Iowa's survey says local rates vary with machine availability, timeliness, operator skill and field size and shape, and Nebraska's points to field size, terrain and location. Many land-grant universities publish their own state's survey; read the one for your state first.
In the US, applying pesticides for hire usually needs a commercial applicator license from your state, and whether custom farm work carries sales tax is set state by state — check with your state's department of agriculture and confirm the tax line with your accountant.
Outside the US, treat the dollar figures as a shape, not a price: work by the acre and the bale, the odd jobs by the hour, fuel adjusted as it moves and inputs billed apart hold everywhere. Check the rates your own country's farm advisers publish.
Put your prices on your website
A price list — even “from” prices — answers a customer's first question before they pick up the phone, and it's the line an AI assistant can quote when someone asks what custom farm work costs near them.
If you build your site with Zarla, tell the editor “add a pricing section: combining $46 an acre, round bales $16 each, seed and chemicals extra” and your prices go on the site, in a section you can edit any time. Want to see a finished site first? Browse farm website templates or see how Zarla builds farm websites.
Still setting up? Write your farm business plan, and when the prices are set, read how to get your business on Google. Raising prices you set a year ago? The price increase letter tells customers a month ahead.
Custom farming rates: common questions
Iowa's 2026 survey: corn combining $25–$80 an acre ($46.05 average), soybeans $24–$70 ($43.05), planting $15–$38, ground spraying $5–$18, round bales with wrap $12–$20 a bale (Iowa State University, March 2026). The calculator above prices a job by the acre, the bale or the hour.
$46.05 an acre is Iowa's 2026 average, $25–$80 its range; Nebraska's 2024 average is $45.00 dryland and $47.84 irrigated. A complete harvest with the grain cart and the haul to farm storage averages $82 an acre in Iowa.
Large round bales with wrap: $12–$20 a bale, $15.75 on average; without wrap $10–$20; small square bales $0.50–$1.50 (Iowa, 2026). Nebraska's 2024 averages are $16.54 for net-wrapped rounds and $2.06 for small squares.
In Iowa's survey, yes — fuel, repairs, depreciation, interest and operator labor are in the rate unless noted, and the 2026 rates assumed diesel at $2.89 a gallon. Iowa marks spraying and fertilizer application “materials not included”, and Nebraska leaves seed, fertilizer and chemicals out unless a rate says otherwise. Nebraska's method adjusts for fuel: the price change per gallon times the gallons the job burns per acre.
By the job: backhoeing $70–$200 an hour, clearing land $100–$225, snow with a loader $50–$200, mowing fence rows and ditches $20–$150, chain sawing $50–$120, welding machinery $40–$110 (Iowa, 2026, labor, fuel and equipment included).
Not always. Nebraska Extension says the survey rates don't necessarily measure the full economic cost — some operators charge only fuel and labor — and that operators on a commercial scale should account for machinery, labor and other expenses (May 2024). Cost your own machine before you match the going rate.
Yes — a rate per acre and per bale answers the first question before the call, and it's the line an AI assistant can quote. On a Zarla site, tell the editor “add a pricing section” with your rates, and change them when fuel does.
Where these numbers come from
Every range on this page is read off a published source, dated below. They're US state survey figures for custom farm work — what custom operators charge, with fuel, machinery and operator labor in the rate and the inputs billed apart — typical, not a rule; your costs and your market come first.
- Iowa State University Extension — 2026 Iowa Farm Custom Rate Survey (Ag Decision Maker File A3-10; 205 responses) — dated March 2026, read November 2026
- Nebraska Extension — 2024 Nebraska Farm Custom Rates (EC823, revised May 2024; 159 responses) — dated May 2024, read November 2026
- O*NET OnLine — 45-2091.00 Agricultural Equipment Operators (median wages, 2025) — dated October 2026, read November 2026
Put your custom farming rates on your website
Add your town and your farm's name, and Zarla builds the site from that one line. Your rates go in a pricing section you edit by chat.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.