Photo courtesy Sara Bauder, SDSU Extension Forage Field Specialist
South Dakota State University Extension is collecting data on the state’s custom farming rates and inviting producers to participate.
The Custom Farming Rates Survey is available at https://extension.sdstate.edu/
Custom farming refers to owners hiring others to complete jobs, such as harvesting crops or feeding livestock. The survey will include custom farming for crop and livestock producers.
Sarah Sellars, assistant professor and SDSU Extension Sustainable Farm and Food Systems Specialist, said there hasn’t been a custom farming rates survey for several years. She is excited to bring it back to better understand current practices and pricing across the state.
“I think it’s an important public service that a land grant university provides,” Sellars said.
Aspen Winter, a senior business economics student at SDSU, is spearheading the survey under Sellars’ oversight. Winter said in her role at the business school, she fields frequent questions from people about custom rates but didn’t have South Dakota-specific data to provide. With this survey, she is excited to fill that gap.
“I want to be able to refer them to the South Dakota custom rates report,” Winter said.
They hope to collect data from agricultural producers, landowners and managers, lenders, and agricultural consultants. All information provided will remain anonymous and aggregated by region to help producers understand average rates in their area.
Sellars praised Winter’s initiative in re-launching the survey, saying she has gone above and beyond to prepare the survey and present it to producers.
“She’s worked hard on this. This never would have launched without her,” Sellars said.
SDSU Extension news release
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