Become a Custom Harvester
Custom harvesters harvest crops for others, many times working for the same farms year after year. Popular in the United States, custom harvesters are used by farmers and ranchers who often have interests in more than one aspect of farming. For example, large dairy farms who grow the feed for the cattle may need to have the feed harvested during busy calving seasons, making it difficult for the farmer to harvest the crops himself. When that happens, a farmer will seek a reputable custom harvester. A good reputation and excellent communication skills are key to learning how to become a custom harvester.
Contents
Steps
- Work for a custom harvesting company before starting your own company.
- Working for an established custom harvesting company will allow you to build relationships with farmers and let them see that you are reliable and dependable.
- Look your area's yellow pages, or talk to local farmers about companies that provide custom harvesting to find these opportunities.
- Lease or buy your own harvesting equipment, such as combines and seeders.
- In order to purchase or lease harvesting equipment of this size and value, you will need to have excellent credit scores. Combines and seeders can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and retailers are going to want to be sure you will be able to pay for the equipment.
- Be reliable and responsible.
- Failure to communicate, poor quality or non-operating equipment, and unreliability can result in disaster for a custom harvester. Word-of-mouth is a common method for recommendations in the agriculture industry, so building a good reputation is extremely important in order to succeed.
- Perform regular maintenance on your equipment.
- One of the key things a farmer will look for when hiring a custom harvester is the condition of the equipment. If the equipment is not well-maintained, or is not the right size to do the work, you will be less likely to obtain work as a custom harvester. Therefore, it is important that your equipment be in top working order.
- Be aware of your communication skills.
- Communication is vital between the farmer and the custom harvester. It is important to know exactly what the farmer expects. Many farmers feel that the harvest is the most important phase of growing, and they will expect you to communicate with them any questions you may have.
- You will also need to know what to ask the farmer before you begin working together.
Tips
- Visa restrictions in many countries can have an affect on the number of migrant workers available for hand-harvested crops, such as grapes for wineries. Therefore, it is possible to obtain employment as a custom harvester without the lease or purchase of expensive equipment if you are willing to do the difficult job of hand-harvesting some types of crops.
- Farmers often turn to custom harvesters due to farm expansion or when additional chores become overwhelming, causing a delay in them getting to the harvest. Often this increased work does not warrant the expense of new equipment. By knowing the area farmers and farms, you will be able to approach those that appear to need some additional help on the farm.
- Because farmers often hire custom harvesters in order to focus on other aspects of the farm industry, it is crucial that you be able to complete the job on time and as the farmer has requested. Reputation is important to success as a custom harvester.
Warnings
- Before starting your own custom harvesting business, it is important to research the market to be sure it can withstand an additional custom harvesting business. If custom harvesters in your area are all booked fairly early, or farmers are having trouble finding them, chances are that you will succeed in starting your own business as long as you follow the steps outlined.
