Farming equipment
Farm custom hire versus own operation
Compare entered custom-work charges with allocated ownership and operating costs over a supplied annual acreage.
Your inputs
Complete the fields for your selected method. Zero means intentionally zero, not unknown. Currency selection labels amounts; it does not convert exchange rates.
How this calculation works
custom cost = acreage × quote/acre + fixed quoted fee; own cost = annual fixed + acreage × variable/acre
This is an enterprise-budget worksheet using supplied quantities, prices and assumptions. No feeding ration, treatment, stocking rate, fertilizer, pesticide, yield forecast or equipment suitability is prescribed. Compare equivalent scope and quality using one supplied service quote. Include your own fuel, labor and repair cost in variable cost without duplicating fixed ownership cost. Work-window feasibility is separate from cost, and does not forecast weather or recommend a supplier.
What information do I need?
Use records for the same job, equipment or accounting period. Only the fields for your selected entry method are required. An unknown amount is not zero.
Input definitions and where to find them
- Annual operation acreage (acre): One custom quote, own fixed allocation and operating-cost log. Owner records or explicit assumption; no account connection or maintained rate tables required.
- Supplied custom-work quote per acre (selected currency): One custom quote, own fixed allocation and operating-cost log. Owner records or explicit assumption; no account connection or maintained rate tables required.
- Quoted fixed mobilization or job fee (selected currency): One custom quote, own fixed allocation and operating-cost log. Owner records or explicit assumption; no account connection or maintained rate tables required.
- Annual fixed ownership cost allocated to operation (selected currency): One custom quote, own fixed allocation and operating-cost log. Owner records or explicit assumption; no account connection or maintained rate tables required.
- Owned variable operation cost per acre (selected currency): One custom quote, own fixed allocation and operating-cost log. Owner records or explicit assumption; no account connection or maintained rate tables required.
- Observed owned effective field capacity (acres/hour): One custom quote, own fixed allocation and operating-cost log. Owner records or explicit assumption; no account connection or maintained rate tables required.
- Available operating hours in the work window (hours): One custom quote, own fixed allocation and operating-cost log. Owner records or explicit assumption; no account connection or maintained rate tables required.
Use the Where to find this value controls beside the inputs for available work-it-out helpers. Estimates remain your assumptions; a helper does not verify the source figures.
Worked example
Example amounts use US dollars (USD).
Example answer: Owned minus custom annual operation cost is -$1,700.00 for the illustrative inputs below.
Example inputs
- Annual operation acreage: 500.00 acre
- Supplied custom-work quote per acre: $25.00
- Quoted fixed mobilization or job fee: $200.00
- Annual fixed ownership cost allocated to operation: $5,000.00
- Owned variable operation cost per acre: $12.00
- Observed owned effective field capacity: 10.00 acres/hour
- Available operating hours in the work window: 60.00 hours
- Owned minus custom annual operation cost
- -$1,700.00
- Custom total quoted operation cost
- $12,700.00
- Owned total allocated operation cost
- $11,000.00
- Owned work hours needed
- 50.00 hours
- Owned work-window comparison
- Within entered hours; availability is assumed
These illustrative values are not recommended rates or industry averages. Replace every example input with your own figures.
Use the result well
Compare operation cost recovery.
Keep inputs on the same scope and time basis. Calculations retain precision internally; displayed values generally round to two decimal places, with extra precision for very small values and whole-unit rounding where required. Economic comparisons describe your supplied assumptions and do not guarantee future results.
This tool provides business arithmetic. It does not approve engineering designs, establish legal or tax treatment, select equipment or certify safe operating conditions.