The ‘guide’ contractor rate for round baling (straw) for 2019 is €5/bale (plus VAT). That’s for a ‘standard’ 4X4 bale. The rate for (bigger-diameter) 5X4 bales is also €5/bale.

That’s according to the Association of Farm & Forestry Contractors in Ireland (FCI); the data is from its annual ‘Contracting Charges Guide’.

Image source: Shane Casey

The ‘guide’ rate for making big-square 8X4X3 bales is €9.50/bale (plus VAT). This drops to €8.50/bale for smaller 8X3X3 bales.

Image source: Shane Casey

A rate is also ‘guided’ for 6X3X3 bales; it’s €5/bale.

Meanwhile, though it’s not such a widely-practiced activity nowadays, the ‘guide’ rate for making small-square bales is €0.50/bale (plus VAT).

Image source: Shane Casey

The aforementioned ‘prices’ are believed to be average, guide-line prices – surveyed from FCI members.

Of course, prices can vary considerably – depending on any number of factors. Such factors might include the size of the job undertaken (number of bales/acres, etc) or the distance travelled by the contractor to get to the job. When compiled earlier this year, they were apparently based on a (green) diesel price of 70c/L.

Combine harvesting ‘rates’

Last week, August 15, we reported on the FCI’s ‘guide’ contractor rate for combine harvesting (of cereals and oilseed rape) for 2019; it’s pegged at €52/ac (plus VAT).

Also Read: What’s the contractor charge-out rate for combine harvesting?

The ‘guide’ rate for grain haulage (up to 15km from the field where the combine harvester is working) is quoted on a per-tonne basis. That figure is €5/t (plus VAT) for 2019.

Image source: Shane Casey