The cost of starting your entry-level grain farm
Between weeding, seeding and harvesting, the cost to run a modern operation adds up pretty quickly
It has been a full week of all things agriculture at the Canadian Western Agribition in Regina. On Friday, the Leader-Post spoke to Darryl Priel of Case IH Agriculture and Farm Equipment, which has an Agribition display, about what it takes to start your own entry-level grain farm.
WHAT TO BUY
“We only have so long to plant a crop and only so long to take it off,” said Priel, Case IH territorial sales manager. So choosing what equipment you buy is based largely on efficiency.
Producers must decide what equipment will work best for them based on how many acres they’re farming, how many acres an hour they want to cover, how many hours in a day they want to work and how many days of the week they have people to do the work. He said an average small family farm is approximately 1,000-1,500 acres.
The prices here are approximate and for used equipment. Double the numbers to get an idea of the cost of new gear.
WEEDING
Priel says stage one of any entry- level farm is preparing your land for seeding. This means mechanically weeding or using a herbicide. Traditional farms use sprayers to distribute herbicide to get rid of any unwanted weeds that could compromise the health of the crops.
There are two types of sprayers. A pull type costs between $40,000 to $60,000, but requires a tractor to pull it — adding another $80,000 to $120,000 to the price tag.
More commonly used today, according to Priel, are selfpropelled sprayers. They do not require additional equipment to operate them and come in at around $150,000 to $200,000.
SEEDING
Step two is seeding. Priel said a typical family farm would have a 40-foot air seeder — also known as an air drill — which costs $100,000 to $150,000. They would also have something along the lines of a 300 horsepower, four-wheel drive tractor, which costs about $200,000.
The main crops grown in south-central and central Saskatchewan are cereal crops such as wheat, barley and oats; pulse crops like lentils and peas; and oilseeds like canola and soy beans.
PROTECTING YOUR CROP
“You’ll use your sprayer again for either herbicide — to take care of the weeds — or pesticide, to take care of the insects,” said Priel. He said organic farms will use mechanical methods to weed and so have no use for sprayers, but traditional farms use their sprayers multiple times throughout a growing season. After protecting against weeds and insects, producers may also need to spray for things like fungus or mildew. If a farmer is using a pull-type sprayer, he or she may need to hire a custom sprayer once a crop has grown to full height so as not to damage the crop, which can cost around $6 per acre plus the cost for chemicals.
HARVESTING
Priel said farmers typically use one of two pieces of equipment for harvesting. Combines are used to straight-cut crops, which means the combine can go straight into the crop. They cost between $250,000 to $400,000.
If straight-cutting is not an option, Priel said producers would need to use a swather — also known as a windrower — which can cost from $60,000 to $100,000. While these aren’t all the costs associated with starting your own farm, Priel said as far as the main pieces of large equipment, this is what one can expect. But coming up with the money is only part of the challenge in an industry where the risk is as high as the cost of investment.
“...All the investment can be washed away in a second by Mother Nature,” said Priel.