Summary of 2002 Ridge and Indian River-South Florida Citrus Caretaker Surveys¹

Ronald P. Muraro²

This year's annual questionnaire surveys were conducted through the mail from February through April 2002. Thirty citrus caretakers participated in the Ridge area survey, while 22 citrus caretakers participated in the Indian River–South Florida area survey. Cooperatives, their members, and growers performing their own cultural practies were not surveyed. The author expresses sincere thanks to those caretakers and their staffs who took time from their busy schedules to report their custom charges.

Caretakers answering the Ridge survey reported servicing 60,708 acres planted to citrus, or 2,639 acres per caretaker. The Indian River–South Florida participants serviced 44,602 total acres, or 3,431 acres per caretaker. A majority of the Indian River–South Florida growers conduct their own cultural practices. Also, during the past two years, there has been a consolidation among citrus caretaker firms, along with citrus grove acreage, resulting in fewer citrus caretakers participating in the annual survey.

The itemized custom rates, expressed as the low and high rate reported, and the average of the rates for the 2002 surveys are the most current available (Tables 1 and 2). Custom rates for growers who are members of cooperatives and costs for growers who conduct their own cultural practices may differ from these average caretaker rates. For more detailed information on customer rates and other citrus production cost data for 2001-2002 and previous years, contact either the author or your local County Extension Citrus Specialist.

Tables

Table 1. A listing of 2002 custom rates reported by 30 Ridge citrus caretakers.

Grove Practice		Unit	Range of Rate Reported		Average Ratey	Comments
CULTIVATION AND EQUIPMENT
	Hand Labor	Hour	$ 10.00	$ 15.00	$ 12.13	Plus transportation
	Mechanic Labor	Hour	25.00	40.00	30.82	Includes truck
	Rotovate	Hour	26.70	41.60	32.74
	Disc 7 feet	Hour	25.00	35.00	29.81
	Disc 7 feet	Acre	8.00	10.00	9.09	One-way discing
	Disc 9-10 feet	Hour	25.00	35.60	30.47
	Disc 9-10 feet	Acre	7.00	10.00	8.98	One-way discing
	Chop	Hour	26.00	35.80	28.86
	Mow 5-7 feet	Hour	27.90	35.60	30.76
	Mow 9-12 feet	Hour	29.60	35.00	32.03
	Mow 5-7 feet	Acre	8.50	11.25	10.19
	Mow 9-12 feet	Acre	10.00	12.50	10.75
	Mow 15-16 feet	Acre	10.00	12.00	11.33
	Herbicide (strip/ band single boom)z	Hour	26.40	33.00	29.73	Plus materials
	Herbicide (strip/ band single boom)z	Acre	11.00	15.00	13.58	Plus materials
	Herbicide (strip/ band double boom)z	Acre	12.50	15.00	13.57	Plus materials; $35.26/hour average
	Herbicide (piggy-back appliance)z	Acre	12.50	17.50	14.82	Plus materials
	Herbicide (chemical mow)z	Acre	5.00	8.50	7.14	Plus materials
	Temikz	Acre	12.00	15.00	13.90	Plus materials; fumigate @ $7.50/acre
	Plow	Hour	29.00	35.00	30.14
	Deviner	Hour	—	—	30.00
	Bush Hog	Hour	27.50	40.50	33.07
	Pickup Truck w/ Driver	Hour	22.50	35.00	27.19	24,411 miles/year/pickup average
	Flatbed Transport Truck w/ Driver	Hour	29.00	40.00	34.17	27,917/miles/year average; $87.50/trip average
	Low-Boy Transport	Hour	50.00	65.00	56.25
	Tractor w/ Driver	Hour	24.20	32.00	28.10
	Water/Supply Truck	Hour	27.50	35.00	30.35
SPRAYINGz
	Engine-Driven Air Blast Sprayer			$140/tank @ 250 GPA (1,000 gallon tank)
	Engine-Driven PTO Air Blast Sprayer			$21/acre @ 125 GPA
			AIR BLAST SPRAYER
			Engine-Driven				PTO-Powered				Tree See Technology
	500 GPA	Acre	30.00	36.00	33.67		25.00	35.75	30.19		$30.20/acre
	250 GPA	Acre	24.00	33.50	28.68		25.00	30.00	27.50		$27.50/acre
	125 GPA	Acre	—	—	—		18.00	26.00	21.63		$25.00/acre
	100 GPA	Acre	—	—	—		17.50	20.00	19.17		$22.50/acre
	50 GPA	Acre	—	—	—		15.00	20.00	18.33		$20.00/acre
	Aerial (Bell-47 helicopter)			$10.00 @ 5 GPA; $15.00 @ 10 GPA; $16.00 @ 15 GPA
FERTILIZER AND SOIL AMENDMENTSz
	Inject Liquid Fertilizer into Irrigation System	Hour	28.00	35.00	32.06	Truck plus labor
	Inject Liquid Fertilizer into Irrigation System	Acre	2.00	3.50	2.85	$66.67/irrigation injection hookup
	Liquid Boom Application (double boom)	Acre	12.00	15.00	13.83	$14.25/acre average per single boom
	Dry (bulk)	Acre	7.50	10.50	8.27	$30.00/hour
	Lime or Dolomite	Acre	7.50	9.75	8.38
	Lime or Dolomite	Ton	7.50	9.50	8.08
	Fertilize Treesz
	Hand spread	Hour	10.00	15.00	12.13	Plus transportation and materials
	Machine spread	Hour	25.00	32.00	29.36	Plus materials; $8.83/acre
IRRIGATION
	Microsprinkler	$3.42/acre, $37.50/month, $18.00/trip				Start/stop & supervision (truck & driver)
	Microsprinkler	Hour	25.00	35.00	28.75	Start/stop & supervison (truck & driver)
	Freeze Protect w/ Irrigation	$45.00/night/system; $25.00/night/system -- monitor weather & employee standby
	ATV w/ Driver	Hour	15.00	25.00	20.65	Check/repair microsprinkler irrigation system
	Ring Young Trees
	Hand labor	Hour	10.00	15.00	12.13	Labor plus equipment
	Mechanical	Hour	24.20	28.50	26.81
	Ditch mower	Hour	—	—	50.00
REMOVING TREES
	Tree Shearing (cutting trees at ground level)	Hour	50.00	65.00	56.00	5-20 trees/hour to shear trees
	Front-End Loader	Hour	45.00	60.00	51.97	5-15 trees/hours to remove trees
	Bulldozer	Hour	—	—	48.50
	Front-End Loader w/ Tree Spade	Hour	—	—	65.00
PRUNING
	General Pruning (Rehab)	Tree	3.00	5.00	3.81	Depends on trees/acre
	Power Saw w/ Operator	Hour	17.00	25.00	19.20	Plus transportation
	Limb Lifter/Tree Skirt Timmer (double sided)	Hour	—	—	210.00	9-18 acres per one pass
	Hedging
	Single side (tractor mounted)	Hour	75.00	100.00	86.25	2-5 acres/hour
	Single side (tractor pulled)	Hour	—	—	80.00	$20/acre
	Double side (tractor mounted)	Hour	80.00	82.50	81.25	3-5 acres/hour
	Double side (tractor pulled)	Hour	—	—	210.00
	Double side (self propelled)x	Hour	325.00	360.00	339.00	10-25 acres/hour, depending on wood size
	Double Side (self propelled)x	Hour	280.00	300.00	290.00	4-12 acres/hour, depending on wood size
	Topping
	Tractor mounted	Hour	—	—	190.00
	Tractor pulled	Hour	—	—	100.00	1-3 acres/hour
	Self propelled	Hour	350.00	380.00	367.50	5-10 acres/hour (roof top) 5-20 acres/hour (flat top)
	Self propelled	Hour	250.00	290.00	270.00
	Double boom (self propelled)	Hour	—	—	550.00	2-12 acres/hour (roof top) 15-30 acres/hour (flat top)
	Removing Brush
	Haul brush from grove	Hour	—	—	40.00	$48.75/hour average (2 people with truck/tractor)
	Front-end loader (push brush)	Hour	46.40	60.00	52.40	2-10 acres/hour
	Chop/mow brush	Hour	26.00	37.50	30.62	3-6 acres/hour, $9.85/acre average
COLD PROTECTION
	Mechanical	Hour	—	—	23.43
	Install Wraps	Hour	0.25	0.50	0.37
OTHER CUSTOM RATES
	Plant Tree Resets	Tree	1.75	2.50	2.29	Stake, plant, and first watering
	Solid Set Planting	Tree	1.10	1.50	1.19	Stake, plant, and first watering
	Travel/Set-Up Charge	Hour	—	—	27.00	Reporting average
	Grove Management Charge/Month
	Supervising grove care operations	Acre	1.50	5.50	2.70	In addition to caretaking charges
	Handling fruit marketing	Box	0.10	0.25	0.15	6% equipment labor charge; $50/acre annually
	Chemical/fertilizer management			10-25% of materials cost
	Personnel charges			$0.05-$0.18/box (harvesting operations/labor compliance records)
	Consulting			$50-$100/hour (cultural management/ horticultural evaluation/ financial analysis prospectus)
	Total Reported Acreage Provided Grove
	Service to	Acre	350	14,122	2,639	60,708 acres total
	Source: Ronald P. Muraro, professor, Citrus Research and Education Center, Lake Alfred, FL. June 2002. z Plus materials. Caretakers reporting rates include labor, tractor, and sprayer. Supply truck included by most caretakers. y Calculated by dividing total caretakers reporting a grove practice rate into sum reported. Unless otherwise stated, labor included with all charges. x Low acres = two years regrowth hedging; high acres = annual maintenance hedging.

Table 2. A listing of 2002 custom rates reported by 22 Indian River and South Florida citrus caretakers.

Grove Practice		Unit	Range of Rate Reported		Average Ratey	Comments
CULTIVATION AND EQUIPMENT
	Hand Labor	Hour	$ 11.50	$ 13.75	$ 12.46	Plus transportation and equipment
	Mechanic Labor	Hour	25.00	40.00	34.33	Labor and service truck
	Rotovate	Hour	30.00	40.00	33.76
	Disc 7-8 feet	Hour	25.00	35.00	29.33
	Disc 10 feet	Hour	31.00	35.00	32.33
	Mow (Off-set or side mower)	Hour	29.00	35.00	32.25
	Mow 7-8 feet	Hour	29.50	33.00	30.29
	Mow 7-8 feet	Acre	8.00	10.00	9.06
	Mow 9-10 feet	Hour	30.00	35.00	31.91
	Mow 9-10 feet	Acre	8.00	10.50	9.17
	Mow 15-16 feet	Hour	35.00	41.00	36.78	$8.25/acre average
	V-Mower	Hour	30.00	34.00	32.22	$8.75/acre average
	Sickle Mower	Hour	30.00	35.00	32.40
	Herbicide (strip/ band single boom)z	Hour	32.00	38.00	35.00
	Herbicide (strip/ band single boom)z	Acre	11.00	12.50	12.19	Plus materials
	Herbicide (strip/ band double boom)z	Acre	12.00	12.50	12.19	Plus materials; $35.41/hour average
	Herbicide (chemical mow)z	Acre	3.00	7.00	4.42	Plus materials
	Temikz	Acre	11.00	13.50	12.17	Plus materials
	Plow	Hour	30.00	35.00	31.58
	Backhoe	Hour	41.00	60.00	46.20
	Vine Puller	Hour	29.00	30.00	29.50
	Middle Buster	Hour	29.50	35.00	31.92	With tractor and driver; $0.2/foot
	Mound Builder	Hour	33.00	35.00	33.67	With tractor and driver; $0.25/mound
	Grader Blade	Hour	28.00	35.00	31.30	With tractor/blade and driver
	Caterpillar Grader	Hour	—	—	55.00
	Bush Hog	Hour	30.00	41.00	32.13
	Water Truck w/ Driver	Hour	27.00	35.00	30.88
	Pickup Truck w/ Driver	Hour	21.50	32.00	27.73	24,970 miles/year/pickup average
	Flatbed Truck w/Driver	Hour	28.50	40.00	35.70	12,115 miles/year/transport truck average
	Tractor w/ Driver	Hour	27.00	35.00	29.40
	ATV w/ Driver	Hour	17.50	30.00	22.16
SPRAYINGz
	Hand Sprayer	Hour	—	—	44.00	Tractor and handgun sprayer plus 2 men
			AIR BLAST SPRAYER
			Engine-Driven				PTO-Powered				Tree See Technology
	500 GPA	Acre	—	—	35.50		30.00	36.00	34.40		$38.48/acre PTO
	250 GPA	Acre	28.00	36.00	30.50		29.00	31.00	29.40		$29.42/acre PTO
	125 GPA	Acre	23.50	26.00	25.05		20.00	25.00	23.30		$25.38/acre PTO
	100 GPA	Acre	—	—	—		19.00	19.75	19.42
	Curtec (25 GPA)	Acre	18.00	20.00	19.33
	Aerial	Fixed Wing $4.38/acre @ 5 GPA
	Aerial	Fixed Wing $6.08/acre @ 10 GPA; Huey Helicopter $12.25/acre @ 10 GPA
	Aerial	Fixed Wing $7.67/acre @ 15 GPA; Huey Helicopter $16.00/acre @ 15 GPA
	Aerial	Fixed Wing $10.33/acre @ 20 GPA; Huey Helicopter $21.00/acre @ 20 GPA; Huey (Aquatic) $30.00/acre @ 20 GPA
FERTILIZER AND SOIL AMENDMENTSz
	Liquid Boom Application
	Single boom	Acre	—	—	12.50
	Double boom	Acre	—	—	12.25
	Dry (bulk)	Acre	6.00	8.25	7.20
	Lime or Dolomite	Acre	7.00	8.25	7.47	$33.26/ton (includes materials)
	Fertilize Treesz
	Hand spread	Hour	11.50	13.75	12.46	Plus transportation and materials
	Machine spread	Hour	30.00	35.00	31.88	Plus materials; $7.54/acre average
IRRIGATION
	Ditch Mower	Hour	35.00	45.00	39.00
	Water Furrow Disc	Hour	29.00	40.00	33.06
	Water Furrow Shaper (non-laser)	Hour	35.00	42.00	37.33
	Water Furrow Shaper (laser control)	Hour	71.50	80.00	74.39	One reporting $0.05/foot (drained & shaped)
	Water Trencher	Hour	30.00	35.00	32.33	One reporting $0.02/foot in water furrows
	Rotary Ditcher or Auger	Hour	28.00	40.00	34.00
	Water Slinger	Hour	—	—	35.00
	Micropsprinrkler/ Drip Irrigation Maintenance	Acre	2.25	4.50	3.38	Check and repair system; parts extra
	Microsprinkler	$27.50/setting; $32.50/hour (truck & driver)				Start/stop and supervison (truck & driver)
REMOVING TREES
	Front-End Loader	Hour	50.00	60.00	53.13	3-15 trees/hour average
	Tree Shearing (cutting trees at ground level)	Hour	50.00	60.00	53.33	5-20 trees/hour average
PRUNING
	General Pruning (Rehab/Freeze Damage)	Tree	—	—	3.50
	Power Saw w/ Operator	Hour	17.50	20.75	18.36
	Hedging
	Single side (tractor-pulled)	Hour	—	—	55.00
	Double side (tractor-pulled)	Hour	—	—	100.00	6-10 acres/hour
	Double side (tractor mounted)	Hour	—	—	200.00
	Double side (self propelled)	Hour	225.00	265.00	238.33	8-20 acres/hour, $14.72/acre average
	Double side rotary boom (self propelled)x	Hour	—	—	300.00	5-15 acres/hour (bed top), add 25% furrows only
	Double side self propelled fixed boom hedgerx	Hour	—	—	360.00	12-30 acres/hour (bed top) 8-20 acres/hour (bed top and furrow)
	Topping
	Tractor pulled	Hour	100.00	125.00	113.33	2-5 acres/hour
	Tractor pulled	Hour	—	—	365.00	5-12 acres/hour (roof top) 10-20 acres/hour (flat top)
	Double side topper (self propelled)	Hour	210.00	265.00	237.50	8-15 acres/hour, $27/acre
	Double boom (self propelled)	Hour	—	—	550.00	15-30 acres/hour (flat top)
	Double side (self propelled)	Hour	—	—	—	$32.63/acre (gable); $23.13/acre (flat top)
	Limb Lifter/ Tree Skirt Trimmer	Acre	—	—	13.50	3-5 acres/hour
	Limb Lifter/ Tree Skirt Trimmer (single-side rotary)	Hour	—	—	90.00	4-10 acres/hour
	Limb Lifter/ Tree Skirt Trimmer (double-side rotary)	Hour	—	—	160.00	6-20 acres/hour
	Removing Brush
	Remove brush w/ front-end loader	Hour	45.00	60.00	52.86	$8.00/acre average
	Chop/mow brush	Hour	30.00	40.00	33.40
OTHER CUSTOM RATES
	Install Tree Wraps	$0.10-$0.25 acres/hour, depending on wrap & trees; $0.30/tree maintenance
	Plant Trees (solid set)	Tree	0.90	1.15	1.04	Varies as to density
	Plant Tree (resets)	Tree	2.00	3.50	2.34	Varies as to the number of resets
	Grove Management Charge/Month
	Supervising grove care operations	Acre	3.00	6.00	4.50	In addition to caretaking charges
	Handling fruit marketing			$0.05-$0.15/box; $0.05/pound-solids ($5/acre/month supervising/managing)
	Chemical/fertilizer management			10-20% of materials cost
	Personnel charges			$0.10/box (harvesting operations & /labor compliance records)
	Consulting	Hour	75.00	120.00	106.67	Horticulture Evaluation/Financial Analysis
	Consulting	$250/day (cultural management)
	Total Reported Acreage Provided Grove
	Service to	Acre	1,300	8,000	3,431	44,602 total acres
	Source: Ronald P. Muraro, professor, University of Florida, Citrus Research and Education Center, Lake Alfred, FL, June 2002. z Plus materials. Caretakers reporting rates include labor, tractor, and sprayer. Supply truck included by most caretakers. y Calculated by dividing total caretakers reporting a grove practice rate into sum reported. Unless otherwise stated, labor included with all charges. x Low acres = two years regrowth hedging; high acres = annual maintenance hedging.

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Footnotes

1. This is EDIS document FE 349, a publication of the Department of Food and Resource Economics, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Published March 2003. Please visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2. Ronald P. Muraro, Professor and Farm Management Economist, Department of Food and Resource Economics, Citrus Research and Education Center, Lake Alfred, FL, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.

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