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Summary of 2003 Ridge and Indian River-South Florida Citrus Caretaker Surveys1
Ronald P. Muraro2This year's annual questionnaire surveys were conducted through the mail from February through April 2003. Thirty citrus caretakers participated in the Ridge area survey, while twenty-two 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 62,709 acres planted to citrus, or 2,639 acres per caretaker. The Indian River-South Florida participants serviced 45,150 total acres, or 3,225 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 2003 survey custom rates, which are the most current available, are itemized as low, high, and average (Tables 1 and 2 ). During the past three years, more citrus caretakers have been reporting the use of electronic sensing technology as shown in the Spraying section on the 2003 summary of the citrus caretarker surveys. 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 2002-2003 and previous years, contact either the author or your local County Extension Citrus Specialist, or go to the "Economics" section of the UF/IFAS CREC website at http://www.lal.ufl.edu .
Tables
Table 1. A listing of 2003 custom rates reported by 30 Ridge citrus caretakers.
Grove Practice
Unit
Low Rate
High Rate
Average Ratey
Comments
CULTIVATION AND EQUIPMENT
Hand Labor
Hour $ 10.00
$ 15.00
$ 12.35
Plus transportation Mechanical Labor
Hour 25.00
42.50
31.85
Includes truck Rotovate
Hour
28.00
45.00
35.69
Disc 7 feet
Hour 26.00
35.00
30.09
Disc 7 feet
Acre 8.00
12.00
10.00
One-way discing
Disc 9-10 feet
Hour 28.00
40.00
33.00
Disc 9-10 feet
Acre 8.00
11.25
9.21
One-way discing
Chop
Hour 26.70
40.00
31.43
Chop Acre 7.00
10.00
8.68
Mow 5-7 feet
Hour 28.00
35.00
30.17
Mow 9-12 feet
Hour 32.00
36.50
35.33
3 data points Mow 5-7 feet
Acre 8.50
11.25
10.31
Mow 9-12 feet
Acre 9.50
13.50
10.91
Mow 15-16 feet
Acre
10.00
12.50
11.25
Herbicide (strip/ band single boom)z
Hour 26.40
33.00
29.48
Plus materials
Herbicide (strip/ band single boom)z
Acre 11.50
15.00
13.98
Plus materials
Herbicide (strip/ band double boom)z
Acre 12.50
15.70
13.81
Plus materials; $36.50/hour average
Herbicide (piggy-back appliance)z
Acre 12.50
17.50
14.50
Plus materials Herbicide (chemical mow)z
Acre
5.00
9.25
7.32
Plus materials
Temikz
Acre 13.00
15.00
14.26
Plus materials
Plow
Hour 30.00
35.00
33.38
Deviner
Hour --
--
30.00
Bush Hog
Hour 28.00
41.00
34.23
Pickup Truck w/ Driver
Hour 22.50
35.00
26.37
27,353 miles/year average
Flatbed Transport Truck w/ Driver
Hour 28.00
40.00
33.03
27,639/miles/year average; $17.83/hour average w/o driver
Low-Boy Transport
Hour 50.00
55.00
52.25
Tractor w/ Driver
Hour 25.00
32.50
27.88
Water/Supply Truck
Hour 25.00
34.25
29.38
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
1,000 Gallon Tank
Engine-Driven
1,000 Gallon Tank
PTO-Powered
Electronic Sensing Technology
500 GPA
Acre 35.00
35.25
35.08
25.00
35.00
31.30
$32.60/acre
250 GPA
Acre 25.00
35.00
28.65
25.00
32.00
28.80
$29.75/acre
125 GPA
Acre --
--
--
21.00
27.00
23.13
$27.50/acre
100 GPA
Acre
--
--
--
20.00
23.00
21.33
$23.50/acre
50 GPA
Acre --
--
--
15.00
20.00
18.83
$20.00/acre
Aerial (Bell-47 helicopter)
$10.00 @ 5 GPA; $15.00 @ 10 GPA; $17.50 @ 15 GPA; $22.00 @ 20 GPA
FERTILIZINGz
Inject Liquid Fertilizer into Irrigation System
Hour 25.00
35.00
31.03
Truck plus labor
Inject Liquid Fertilizer into Irrigation System Acre 1.50
3.50
2.69
$58.06/irrigation injection hookup
Liquid Boom Application (double boom)
Acre 12.00
15.00
13.86
$17.50/acre average per single boom
Dry (bulk)
Acre 7.00
10.50
8.71
$30.20/hour
Lime or Dolomite
Acre 7.50
10.75
8.80
Lime or Dolomite
Ton 7.00
10.50
8.03
Fertilize Treesz
Hand spread
Hour 10.00
15.00
12.35
Plus transportation and materials Machine spread
Hour 25.00
35.00
30.50
Plus materials; $7.76/acre
IRRIGATION
Microsprinkler
$3.48/acre, $37.50/month, $18.00/trip
Start/stop & supervision
Microsprinkler
Hour 25.00
35.00
27.60
Start/stop & supervison (truck & driver)
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
12.35
Plus transportation
Mechanical Hour 24.20
28.50
25.93
Labor plus equipment REMOVING TREES
Tree Shearing (cutting trees at ground level)
Hour 50.00
65.00
60.17
5-20 trees/hour to shear trees
Front-End Loader
Hour 50.00
60.00
54.19
5-20 trees/hours to remove trees
Bulldozer
Hour --
--
50.00
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
20.50
Plus transportation Limb Lifter/Tree Skirt Timmer (double sided)
Hour --
--
200.00
9-18 acres per one pass Hedging
Single side (tractor mounted)
Hour 75.00
80.00
76.67
2-5 acres/hour Double side (tractor pulled)
Hour 80.00
100.00
86.88
3-5 acres/hour Double side (tractor mounted)
Hour 200.00
220.00
210.00
Double side (self propelled)x
Hour 325.00
360.00
341.67
10-25 acres/hour,
Double Side (self propelled)x
Hour
250.00
300.00
287.50
4-12 acres/hour,
Topping
Tractor mounted
Hour
195.00
200.00
196.67
Tractor pulled
Hour --
--
100.00
1-3 acres/hour Self propelled
Hour 365.00
380.00
372.50
5-10 acres/hour (roof top) 5-20 acres/hour (flat top)
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 35.00
40.50
37.10
4 people with truck/tractor-trailer
Front-end loader (push brush)
Hour 46.40
60.00
53.72
2-10 acres/hour Chop/mow brush
Hour 27.90
37.50
33.42
3-6 acres/hour, $11.31/acre average
COLD PROTECTION
Mechanical
Hour --
--
23.43
Install Wraps
Hour 0.24
0.50
0.34
OTHER CUSTOM RATES
Plant Trees (resets)
Tree 1.75
3.00
2.38
Stake, plant, and first watering Plant Trees (solid set)
Tree 1.00
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
2.88
In addition to caretaking charges
Handling fruit marketing
Box
0.10
0.25
0.15
6% equipment labor charge; $50/acre annually
Personnel charges for harvesting operations & maintaining labor
compliance records
$0.16/box average
Consulting $50-$100/hour (cultural management/horticultural evaluation) $150/hour (financial analysis prospectus)
Total Reported Acreage Provided Grove
Service to
Acre 350
14,415
2,639
62,709 acres total
Source: Ronald P. Muraro, professor, Citrus Research and Education Center, Lake Alfred, FL. June 2003. x Low acres = two years regrowth hedging; high acres = annual maintenance hedging.
y Calculated by dividing total number of caretakers reporting a grove practice rate into sum reported.
Unless otherwise stated, labor included with all charges.
z Plus materials. Caretakers reporting rates include labor, tractor, and sprayer. Supply truck included
by most caretakers.
Table 2. A listing of 2003 custom rates reported by 22 Indian River and South Florida citrus caretakers.
Grove Practice
Unit
Low Rate
High Rate
Average Ratey
Comments
CULTIVATION AND EQUIPMENT
Hand Labor
Hour
$ 11.00
$ 15.00
$ 12.92
Plus transportation and equipment Mechanic Labor
Hour 30.00
40.00
34.48
Labor and service truck
Rotovate
Hour 30.00
40.00
35.94
Disc 7-8 feet
Hour 26.00
37.50
31.32
Disc 9-10 feet
Hour 32.25
37.50
34.35
Mow 7-8 feet
Hour 30.00
33.00
30.66
Mow 9-10 feet
Hour 30.00
37.50
32.93
Mow 9-10 feet
Acre 9.00
11.00
9.72
Mow 15-16 feet
Hour 35.00
40.00
37.79
$8.75/acre average
V-Mower
Hour 30.00
34.00
31.56
$8.87/acre average
Sickle Mower
Hour --
--
34.00
Herbicide (strip/ band single boom)z
Hour 32.00
38.00
35.00
Herbicide (strip/ band single boom)z
Acre 12.00
13.40
12.69
Plus materials Herbicide (strip/ band double boom)z
Acre 11.50
13.00
12.25
Plus materials
Herbicide (chemical mow)z
Acre
2.50
7.00
4.00
Plus materials Temikz
Acre 10.00
13.00
11.83
Plus materials Plow
Hour 30.00
37.50
33.33
Backhoe
Hour 40.00
50.00
46.28
Vine Puller/Deviner
Hour
30.00
31.00
30.33
Middle Buster
Hour 30.00
37.50
34.13
With tractor and driver; $0.025/foot
Mound Builder
Hour 33.00
37.50
34.50
With tractor and driver; $0.25/mound Grader Blade Hour 28.00
37.50
33.00
With tractor/blade and driver Caterpillar Grader
Hour --
--
55.00
Bush Hog
Hour 35.00
41.00
37.83
Water Truck w/ Driver
Hour
30.00
35.00
33.04
Pickup Truck w/ Driver
Hour 24.00
35.00
38.78
24,990 miles/year average
Flatbed/Transport Truck w/Driver
Hour 35.00
50.00
35.70
12,115 miles/year average
Tractor w/ Driver
Hour 27.50
40.00
30.73
ATV w/ Driver
Hour 18.00
25.00
21.70
SPRAYINGz
PTO AIR BLAST SPRAYER
1,000 Gallon Trank
with
Electronic Sensing
1,000 Gallon Tank
without
Electronic Sensing
500 Gallon Tank Engine Driven Average
500 GPA
Acre 35.00
40.00
37.75
30.00
35.00
34.70
37.77
250 GPA
Acre 28.00
35.00
31.20
25.00
30.00
28.50
30.38
125 GPA
Acre 23.00
27.50
25.38
23.50
25.00
23.93
26.02
100 GPA
Acre --
--
--
19.75
21.00
20.42
--
Curtec (25 GPA)
Acre
20.00
20.00
20.67
Aerial
Fixed Wing $4.93/acre @ 5 GPA (GPA = gallons per acre)
Aerial
Fixed Wing $6.07/acre @ 10 GPA; Huey Helicopter $15.00/acre @ 10 GPA
Aerial
Fixed Wing $7.55/acre @ 15 GPA; Huey Helicopter $30.00/acre @ 15 GPA
Aerial
Fixed Wing $11.02/acre @ 20 GPA
FERTILIZINGz
Liquid Boom Application Single boom
Acre --
--
12.50
Double boom
Acre --
--
12.25
Dry (bulk)
Acre
7.00
8.25
7.02
$12.00/acre with electronic sensing technology
Lime or Dolomite
Acre 7.00
8.25
7.63
$34.13 (includes materials)
Fertilize Treesz
Hand spread
Hour 11.00
15.00
12.92
Plus transportation and materials Machine spread
Hour 26.00
33.00
29.80
Plus materials; $7.25/acre average; $12.00/acre with electronic sensing
IRRIGATION
Ditch Mower
Hour
35.00
45.00
41.00
Water Furrow Disc
Hour 30.00
37.50
34.10
Water Furrow Cleaner Hour 33.00
34.00
33.33
Water Furrow Shaper (non-laser)
Hour 35.00
42.00
38.11
Water Furrow Shaper (laser control)
Hour
70.00
75.00
72.67
Rotary Ditcher or Auger
Hour
30.00
37.50
34.63
Micropsprinrkler/ Drip Irrigation Maintenance
Acre
3.50
4.50
3.85
Monthly charges. Check and repair system; parts extra
Microsprinkler
$28.75/setting; $32.33/hour (truck & driver)
Start/stop and supervison
REMOVING TREES
Front-End Loader
Hour 50.00
57.20
52.53
3-15 trees/hour average Tree Shearing (cutting trees at ground level)
Hour 50.00
60.00
54.29
5-20 trees/hour average
PRUNING
Power Saw w/ Operator
Hour 17.00
21.50
19.81
Hedging
Double side (tractor-pulled)
Hour 100.00
145.00
130.00
6-10 acres/hour Double side (tractor
mounted)
Hour
--
--
200.00
Double side (self propelled)
Hour 225.00
265.00
255.00
8-20 acres/hour, $14.07/acre average
Double side rotary boom
(self propelled)x
Hour --
--
300.00
5-15 acres/hour (bed top only), add 25% for furrows only
Double side self propelled
fixed boom
hedgerx
Hour --
--
360.00
12-30 acres/hour (bed top only) 8-20 acres/hour (bed top and furrow)
Topping
Tractor pulled
Hour --
--
115.00
2-5 acres/hour
Tractor pulled (fixed boom)
Hour --
--
360.00
5-12 acres/hour (roof top) 10-20 acres/hour (flat top)
Double side topper (self
propelled)
Hour 265.00
300.00
279.00
8-15 acres/hour, $25/acre average
Double boom (self propelled)
Hour --
--
550.00
15-30 acres/hour (flat top) Limb Lifter/ Tree Skirt
Trimmer
Acre --
--
13.00
3-5 acres/hour Limb Lifter/ Tree Skirt
Trimmer
(double-side
rotary)
Hour --
--
130.00
6-20 acres/hour Removing Brush
Remove brush w/ front-end
loader
Hour
50.00
55.00
51.14
$8.00/acre average Chop/mow brush
Hour
32.00
40.00
36.58
OTHER CUSTOM RATES
Install Tree Wraps
$0.15-$0.45 per tree, depending on wrap & trees; $0.25/tree maintenance
Plant Trees (solid set)
Tree 0.90
1.50
1.15
Varies as to density Plant Trees (resets)
Tree
2.00
3.25
2.31
Varies as to the number of resets Travel/Setup Charge Hour --
--
25.23
Grove Management Charge/Month
Supervising grove care
operations
Acre 3.00
5.75
4.29
In addition to caretaking charges Handling fruit marketing
$0.10-$0.25/box for supervising & marketing fruit
Chemical/fertilizer management
10-20% of materials cost
Personnel charges for harvesting operations & maintaining labor
compliance records
$0.10-$0.18/box
Consulting
$85.00-$200.00/hour Cultural Management/Horticultural Evaluation and or Financial Analysis Prospectus
Total Reported Acreage Provided Grove
Service to
Acre 1,400
8,000
3,225
45,150 total acres
Source: Ronald P. Muraro, professor, University of Florida, Citrus Research and Education Center, Lake Alfred, FL, June 2003. x Low acres = two years regrowth hedging; high acres = annual maintenance hedging.
y Calculated by dividing total caretakers reporting a grove practice rate into sum reported. Unless
otherwise stated, labor included with all charges.
z Plus materials. Caretakers reporting rates include labor, tractor, and sprayer. Supply truck included
by most caretakers.
Footnotes
1. This is EDIS document FE 429, a publication of the Department of Food and Resource Economics, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, UF/IFAS, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Published October 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, UF/IFAS, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Larry Arrington, Dean.
Copyright Information
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