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Time to raise my prices

3

37 chief

Well-known Member
I'm sure Iam not the only one who does tractor work, or anything else by the hour. I am thinking of raising my prices. Since everything including fuel is going up. An extra $10-$15, or more on every job counts up, when I have 70 mowing customers. I have a month or so before I start mowing full time. Any of you thinking the same who work by the hour? Stan
 
Difficult times.

Everything I buy for farming seems to be like a slot machine, the price wheels are spinning up every day.

Inflation is going to be something.

I dont think fondly of the 80s on that.

People are going to complain, but it is what it is, have to keep up.

Hopefully farming doesnt get caught in the crosshairs and some govt action slashes crop prices. Be a world of hurt if we cant keep up as well.

Again, I dont remember that part of the 80s very fondly.

Paul
 
thinl of it this way. The dollars you get paid this year are worth 85% when you go to buy anything this year.
 
Unfortunately we don't have the option of raising our prices in farming. I take the best price I can get for my crops and hope it will be enough to cover the expenses of growing it (plus a little more). Pretty sure if i tell the guys at the grain terminal I need a bit more per bushel to cover the cost of fuel they are going to laugh at me.
 
I bid by the job as there are just too many variables according to what I'm doing. But to answer your question I will be charging more and will be explaining to my regulars why I have to charge more now. Although my biggest customer buys my fuel. I arrive with a full tank and when I leave I will have a full tank.
 
Custom mowing must charge appropriately for expenses. Look at the price of mower consumables, tractor tire costs, fuel increases, lubricant price change. Determine what approximate independent cost each was last year as an expense per acre, and consider the increase of each as a proportion of your cost and make sure each is covered. It doesn't need to be exact, but close enough to keep you in a reasonable position. Jim
 
That won't even cover your increase in fuel prices will it ?
Everything is going up ! and up . I see no reason why you can't cover your extra expenses.
 
I work a little bit part time for other farmers, besides my myself. Tractor driving and grain truck driving (thier equipement). Hadn't changed my rate per hour for a number of years. Last fall I raised my hourly rate 2.50. I figured I had to raise it that much just to cover the inflation for my time alone.

Heard the local JD dealership jumped thier shop rate to $25 higher than it was.
 
A guy I worked with, at work would say to me, When things were going bad: Now would be a darn good time for me to just quit. That is what I would do. Stan
 
I know a couple that live in one of the Florida villages. He can mow his yard on one cordless battery. Yard is tiny..
 
Raise the hourly and put in a fuel surcharge. Most will understand that.

Vito
 
For the last three years I have mowed the village cemetery. They pay a flat fee not by the hour. I asked for a raise last year and was told they didn't have the money. I'm wondering what will happen this summer. I did fill my 250gal fuel barrel last month that will help.
 
I will understand a raise in rates.

I walk away from any sort of extra charges and fees, like a fuel surcharge, if I possibly can. I would instantly look elsewhere if someone tried to put. Fuel surcharge on me for mowing. Raise the rates I get that. Dont make it complicated and extra expenses I will have none of that.

One mans opinion.

Paul
 
I also do several mowing jobs and definatly will be raising rates. Liability insurance went up this year and diesel around $5/gal I just have tn do some figuring to see what break even cost would be and figure what profit it would take to make it worthwhile.
 
Its not just fuel cost. Everything is costing more including clothes, shoes, food, tools, entertainment, the list goes on. Unless your planning on just sitting at home you have to make more. Remember not all customers are good customers.
 
I'm not mowing for hire,but it takes 12 gal of gas to mow this place and moms yard. The hwy frontage is not getting mowed this year.
 
I went from 20 to 40 to 50 for snow removal . But hey who cares just keep charging the same about cant do anything about it anyway . Fuel was 419 last Monday
cvphoto119636.jpg
 
Stan, having to raise your price is a fact of life. Raising my hay cut, rake, and bale price by at least 1.50 per bale. Customers may not like it, but they are welcome to shop around. Good luck with that one as I am the pretty much the only game in town.
 
Isnt farming great ? And the sad part about it is nobody cares
but the guys farming . Its going to cost over double what it
cost me last year to do anything but will cattle price double?
no the big packers will say weve got to give you less this year
because it costs us more to ship the livestock in and the meat
out but you can bet theyll triple the price of meat in the
grocery store . Jbs just paid over 50 million dollars in the price
fixing lawsuit not because we did anything wrong they said
but because its in our best interest
 
I price out my jobs at 1/3 for fuel. My current fuel bill was $4.25 a gallon yesterday for farm diesel. Considering my fuel bill over the years runs about $2 on average, I will double the fuel part of my hourly charge. Since my customers say that I am worth a lot more than I charge and given current conditions, I doubt they will object.
 
I did and I told my agent that I understand the outrageous price. However, considering all the losses this past year I'm glad to have a company writhing insurance. Currently with Farmers.
 
Surcharges are meant to be temporary. When the fuel prices go back down the surcharges go away. Rate hikes don't tend to disappear when costs go down, except straight in to the pockets of the ones charging them.

The ones feeling the pinch are the people in the middle, who work on salary, who pay for these services. Hourly folks at the bottom got huge pay boosts to cover the increased costs, the business owners get to raise rates. People working for salary get told to pound sand.
 
We farmers buy things at retail, sell our products wholesale, and pay the freight both ways. I don't know of any other business
that does that.
 
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