LETMGROW Posted January 27, 2007 Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 I am wondering how much you would want to or expect to pay if you were to hire someone to come into your property and plant a foodplot or food plots. How much per acre? Would you be willing to pay travel expenses? This is assuming the plot location was a ways from the planter's home. Just for this discussion we'll assume the seed is all the same cost. I'm looking for an average as I know Lime and fertilizer requirements can vary as well as soil textures etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAstringking Posted January 27, 2007 Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 Re: How much would you pay?? i am deff interested in this post because i am looking to hire someone or atleast somehow borrow some equipment. also wondering if price would differ on soil consistency (rocky, soft, hard, ect.)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllinoisArcher Posted January 27, 2007 Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 Re: How much would you pay?? We have a guy from antlerking come down from Black River Falls, WI and plant 2 foodplots every year and the way we pay him is we let him and his buddy hunt down there this year one got a 175" 12 ptr. & a 153" 15 ptr. sorry i couldnt help u with a price tho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitrrophybowhunter Posted January 27, 2007 Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 Re: How much would you pay?? [ QUOTE ] I am wondering how much you would want to or expect to pay if you were to hire someone to come into your property and plant a foodplot or food plots. How much per acre? Would you be willing to pay travel expenses? This is assuming the plot location was a ways from the planter's home. Just for this discussion we'll assume the seed is all the same cost. I'm looking for an average as I know Lime and fertilizer requirements can vary as well as soil textures etc. [/ QUOTE ] I think it completely depends. We used to have a 4.5 acre plot planted a couple times for us. I believe he charged us $400. This was a pretty close firend of the family though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAstringking Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: How much would you pay?? i pay $1000 for 4.5 acers of corn planted in a spcific pattern. we give the money to the neighbor and he contracts a farming friend to do the job. since he is having some hard times the past few years i think we over pay him on purpose. i still think that we could plant the field for way less? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BriarRidgePlots Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: How much would you pay?? I am in the business of doing excatly that! Just getting into it anyhow. I charge a consultation fee to come out and evaluate the property. Then if I come back and do work it all depends on wwhat needs done, on average I charge about $50/hr equipment and operator cost, plus seed, fert and lime. Lime kinda depends, if I can contract it done with a local hauler (if the site is acessible by a lime truck) Plus travel expenses. I travel in the Tri state area mostly. Any other questions drop me a line! Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: How much would you pay?? Our neighbor wanted $200 an acre for corn, he supplied the seed just because he could come right over and plant it while he was planting his without changing seed or fertilizer. It took him about 5 minutes to plant but, we didn't have a planter at the time so what are you going to do?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PAPA99 Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: How much would you pay?? this may sound nuts. but for me it takes about 40 hrs plus 500 bucks to do it myself.you mow it 1st 2and round up then you till then fertilize then you plant and fertilize again.it is a pain when there is corn or beans as far as you can see.so plant some aps and pear trees to. anything to keep them coming to my littel spot.insted of that never ending corn field. BOWHUNTER FOR LIFE !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Finn Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: How much would you pay?? I'm curious to see what's a good price. We're probably gonna hire out to have our 8 acre field planted in corn this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: How much would you pay?? Dont know Lynn. Think the $200 an acre would be a pretty good deal if the person doing the work supplied everything. Used to be a feed and farm supply store owner around here that advertised that he would put your food plots in for you. Custom plots. Dont have a clue how much he was charging. Personally for me, I like doing my own work. Get a bit of satisfaction out of working my plots myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Finn Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 Re: How much would you pay?? [ QUOTE ] Personally for me, I like doing my own work. Get a bit of satisfaction out of working my plots myself. [/ QUOTE ] I can't wait to move back to Wisconsin so I have time to do my own small plots. But, that 8 acre field is more than I want to tackle with my 4 wheeler or my Dad's little tractor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LETMGROW Posted January 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 Re: How much would you pay?? I was just wondering. I talked to a fellow at the Northeastern Sports Show in Syracuse NY last Sat. and he told me he is getting on an average $ 600 per acre. This is start to finish. Includes spraying, discing, liming, fertilizing and planting. Of course he handles the soil tests etc. He uses Whitetail Institute products mainly. I saw some pictures of plots he had done. They looked very good. His equipment is all new or nearly new. After talking to him for a while I knew he was knowledgable and serious about his work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest flatwoodhunter Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 Re: How much would you pay?? we have roughly 400 acres of food plots in our club. we pay 6 people's memberships to plant the fields. labor only the club provides the seed. $1200 dues, so we pay $7200 in labor for 400 acres of plots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QDMAworks4me Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 Re: How much would you pay?? Wow $600 dollars an acre I would be out of business fast when it comes to food plots. I have about 8 acres in food plots and that would be about 4800 bucks. I realize that I have speant over 2000 on equipment this year but now that I have it I won't have to buy it again. If someone did not have any equipment it might be an avenue worth looking into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LETMGROW Posted January 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2007 Re: How much would you pay?? The price might seem high to some but let me put it into perspective somewhat. I saw this fellows brochure which showed his new $ 40,000 plus Kubota tractor, his new seeder/planter, fertilizer spreader, tiller, discs, rotary mower, sprayer, ATV and excavator. Now consider , he is trying to make a profit from this venture. He has a fairly narrow window within which to work. Spring planting would be in a span of about 3 weeks in New York. He might pick up a couple straggler jobs mid-summer then a fall planting around the last week of July to the second week or so of August. In the meanwhile the payments on the machinery last 12 months of the year. He has to work almost 24 hours a day during the planting season to get the jobs completed. All this is dependant on the weather cooperating. Add in the increasing fuel costs, increasing materials costs and maintenance costs along with having to own a truck and trailer to move his equipment around the cost doesn't seem so out of line. I should mention too, this fellow's family owns a very large dairy farm. The food plot business is not his only means of income. I believe if it were he would starve to death! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FSU_Seminole Posted January 31, 2007 Report Share Posted January 31, 2007 Re: How much would you pay?? When I need a big tractor to break dry hard ground or tough corn stalks my guy usually charges me 150$ for about every 2 acres. That's just him disking the ground really good. After that's done, I do the actual fertilizing & seeding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LETMGROW Posted January 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2007 Re: How much would you pay?? When my guy came in last year I paid him $ 35 per hour plus fuel used. He had a 120 HP tractor and 12' offset discs. It doesn't take long to do a few acres with the right equipment. It would have taken me two weeks working evenings and weekends to do what he could do in an afternoon. This doesn't take into account the wear and tear on my own equipment and me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted January 31, 2007 Report Share Posted January 31, 2007 Re: How much would you pay?? [ QUOTE ] When I need a big tractor to break dry hard ground or tough corn stalks my guy usually charges me 150$ for about every 2 acres. That's just him disking the ground really good. After that's done, I do the actual fertilizing & seeding. [/ QUOTE ] Is that just breaking the ground once really well? Around here, just dont think anyone could get that kind of money for that type of job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerClay Posted January 31, 2007 Report Share Posted January 31, 2007 Re: How much would you pay?? At my place, about $100. At hunting camp, about $200. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bownarow Posted January 31, 2007 Report Share Posted January 31, 2007 Re: How much would you pay?? I've ran some cost analysis on this myself and came up with around $650 an acre. That price includes everything from start to finish; labor,fuel,seed,lime,fertilizer,herbicide,soil test, and profit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BriarRidgePlots Posted January 31, 2007 Report Share Posted January 31, 2007 Re: How much would you pay?? I know I have a small fortune in equipment (thank goodness I can use alot of it on the farm too) It sure pays when you talk to a customer and it looks like you know what your'r doing and not just some guy tryin to make a buck. Good equipment and being as knowledgeable about the subjuect are our selling points, without these we have no business. It usually pays to at least consult an expert! Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cowpoke Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 Re: How much would you pay?? Small areas are generally going to be more expensive than regular custom hire for larger acres mostly because of the small acreage involved and the extra monkey work involved. From what I see listed above it's a good thing none of you are trying to make any money selling the crops off of those acres. Not trying to be a wise guy here, and I certainly realize that hunting is a hobby many of us have. I happen to work in the agronomy and livestock profession and know what the costs and returns look like for these kinds of things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bownarow Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 Re: How much would you pay?? [ QUOTE ] Small areas are generally going to be more expensive than regular custom hire for larger acres mostly because of the small acreage involved and the extra monkey work involved. From what I see listed above it's a good thing none of you are trying to make any money selling the crops off of those acres. Not trying to be a wise guy here, and I certainly realize that hunting is a hobby many of us have. I happen to work in the agronomy and livestock profession and know what the costs and returns look like for these kinds of things. [/ QUOTE ] I agree with this. Food plot cost is in no way comparable to the cost of farming. Farming is done on a much larger scale and therefore the costs per acre are much much less. I think for the most part people understand this idea. Food plots on a smaller scale require more specialized equipment, seed and fertilizer. All that stuff = $$$$$$. It's not cheap, but it's really fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 Re: How much would you pay?? WOW...I'm honestly a little shocked over some of the prices I see in here. This past year we hired someone just to disc our food plots and paid him $35/hour for an operator and his tractor. We used our own tractor to seed, fertilize, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 Re: How much would you pay?? In my opionion you are better off doing it yourself, or hire a local farmer..$600 an acre is rediculas! if money means nothing ..hey... go for it! Your states extension office has rates on rental and hire for agriculture equipment.that what I go off..they give you the high and low end and an average price per acre. I dont care if the plot is for deer..thats no excuse for gouging people..JEEPERS!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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