Determining what to pay or charge for custom rates is a challenge in normal years. There is very little publicly available data on custom rates, and though many universities publish surveys of custom operation rates, they usually aren’t updated every year.
This year, rapidly rising input costs will likely compound the already challenging process of agreeing on what to pay for custom operations. However, we can estimate approximately how much we expect custom rates to increase based on the change in costs for two critical inputs: fuel and labor. Combined, these two inputs represent approximately 25% of the cost of field operations during an average year, with overhead (repairs, maintenance, depreciation, transportation, etc.) representing the other 75%.
Restructuring the economy post-COVID-19, supply chain disruptions, and mass movement of workers around the country all led to rapidly rising wages in 2021. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that the cost of employment rose approximately 4.5% across the board and approximately 4.3% for farming occupations in 2021. Surveys of private firms suggest they are planning for wages to rise 3% to 5% in 2022; a nominal increase that does not keep up with the current rate of inflation, meaning that real wages would be down. On its own, a 5% increase in wages would represent a 1% change in the cost of custom operations to maintain profit margins, on average.
As recently as December 2021, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecast a modest increase in the average annual cost of WTI Crude from $68/barrel in 2021 to $73/barrel in 2022. However, cash WTI Crude is currently trading at $115/barrel. The recent war in Ukraine and Russia’s role in the global energy market led to a two-week spike in the price of WTI Crude, up from $90/barrel to $115/barrel. If prices remain at approximately $115/barrel, (many economists assume it will get more expensive before it gets less expensive) it will represent a 70% increase in the cost of crude over the 2021 average price. On its own, a 70% increase in the cost of fuel represents a roughly 10% increase in the cost of custom operations on average.
The table below shows the expected change in the cost of custom operations as a function of different WTI Crude values. The February EIA Short Term Outlook (which was published prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine) placed the 95% confidence bounds on 2022 forecasted average price of WTI Crude at $40/barrel and $60/barrel. The cost of fuel and labor account for a different percentage of each custom operation’s cost, so the change in the cost of fuel impacts each category differently. If the cost of fuel remains at $115/barrel and wages do increase 5% year over year, we can expect all custom operations to cost 10% more than in 2021, with the cost of grain harvest up 10%, the cost of tillage up 12%, the cost of planting up 8%, the cost of chemical and fertilizer application up 6%, the cost of forage harvest up 19%, and the cost of hay baling up 12%. If you don’t utilize custom operators, you may also view these figures as the expected increase in cost to conduct these operations yourself.
Change in Cost of Custom Operations, 2021-2022, based on Different WTI Crude Prices and 5% Wage Increase
| Price of WTI Crude ($/Barrel) | $40 | $109 | $115 | $123 | $160 |
| % Change in WTI Crude, 2021 Average – 2022 F | -41% | 60% | 70% | 80% | 135% |
| Change in Cost, All Custom Operations Average | -5.80% | 9% | 10% | 12% | 19% |
| Change in Cost, 2021 – 2022 | |||||
| Price of WTI Crude ($/Barrel) | $40 | $109 | $115 | $123 | $160 |
| Grain Harvest | -5% | 8% | 10% | 11% | 17% |
| Tillage | -7% | 10% | 12% | 14% | 22% |
| Planting | -4% | 7% | 8% | 9% | 14% |
| Chemical/Fertilizer Application | -3% | 5% | 6% | 7% | 11% |
| Forage Harvest (Haying/Silage Chopping) | -11% | 17% | 19% | 22% | 36% |
| Hay Baling | -6% | 10% | 12% | 13% | 21% |
Benavidez, Justin. “How much will the cost of custom operations go up this year?“. Southern Ag Today 2(11.3). March 9, 2022. Permalink
