Agronomist charges.

juke

Member
Location
DURHAM
What would anyone say is a fair walking fee for a good indy agronomist, my feeling is between £6.50 and £7, with the ability to quote on recommendations made giving the opportunity to earn commission.
I'm hearing of people paying £8 and above for indy advice and the opportunity to quote would the members feel that this is getting too expensive In what's already a competitive world ?
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
What would anyone say is a fair walking fee for a good indy agronomist, my feeling is between £6.50 and £7, with the ability to quote on recommendations made giving the opportunity to earn commission.
I'm hearing of people paying £8 and above for indy advice and the opportunity to quote would the members feel that this is getting too expensive In what's already a competitive world ?


ac or Ha ?
 

teslacoils

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
I pay £4/AC. I expect this will rise slightly due to reduced area of combinables. I pay on top about £150 for a comprehensive manure / organic matter plan given my reliance on digesate and muck. I order all product.

Tbh , on my area I don't really need one but a) he likes coming as I don't muck about and b) it's cheaper than doing my own.
 
I’m an independent, without knowing the farm it’s impossible to quote really. Small farms often take up a hugely disproportional amount of time if you include nutrient planning etc. I often think it’s fairer on all to charge by the hour
 

juke

Member
Location
DURHAM
If they’re quoting for sales they aren’t independent are they!
Not entirely but there's no such thing as a true independent nobody's gonna make there fortune of walking fees alone. they all get a screw somewhere but if the company they work for or have dealings with are the cheapest for the required chemical then its not the end of the world.
 

mountfarm

Member
Not entirely but there's no such thing as a true independent nobody's gonna make there fortune of walking fees alone. they all get a screw somewhere but if the company they work for or have dealings with are the cheapest for the required chemical then its not the end of the world.

This is not true. All our agronomist does is field walk. We buy chemicals from wherever we want. He doesn’t know where they come from as it’s nothing to do with him. He charges us £4.50/acre and he has 30 clients totalling about 20,000ac. He sees everybody routinely every 3 weeks but will come more if there’s a need. The price doesn’t alter for more visits.
 

ajd132

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Suffolk
This is not true. All our agronomist does is field walk. We buy chemicals from wherever we want. He doesn’t know where they come from as it’s nothing to do with him. He charges us £4.50/acre and he has 30 clients totalling about 20,000ac. He sees everybody routinely every 3 weeks but will come more if there’s a need. The price doesn’t alter for more visits.
That is a bloody big area to walk
 

richard hammond

Member
BASIS
Not entirely but there's no such thing as a true independent nobody's gonna make there fortune of walking fees alone. they all get a screw somewhere but if the company they work for or have dealings with are the cheapest for the required chemical then its not the end of the world.
There are the odd TOTALLY independent agronomists and that is why some agronomists are not wealthy people but can lay straight in bed at night!!! (when will supply get taken away from advise, some advise I see is near to illegal both by law or ethically!!!!
 

ajd132

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Suffolk
I know someone who is charging £20/ha as he believes it’s the only way he can garuntee he is truly independent and not have to walk a ridiculous amount of crops to make up for it.
 

Boysground

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Wiltshire
I have just had one agronomist retire and another replace him who I have known for years. Prices in the area of everyone else on here. Agronomy has not been linked to chemical buying for a long time. I do all the purchasing just receive the plans, have a chat and make an order.

Bg
 

henry

Member
Location
Herefordshire
I’m an independent, without knowing the farm it’s impossible to quote really. Small farms often take up a hugely disproportional amount of time if you include nutrient planning etc. I often think it’s fairer on all to charge by the hour

That is reasonable. What rate per hour do you look to charge?
 
Again rates vary a bit but generally between £30-£40/hr depending on whats involved. That includes all mileage though and I tend to undercharge for hours actually worked as I never bother recording those times when I poke my nose in a few fields as I'm just driving past, or when you need a rec changed at the last minute etc, which actually adds up to quite a lot of time.

As an aside, agronomists work profiles have changed quite a lot in this area. A third of area used to be OSR which agronomically is pretty much over before the cereals really kick off. Sugar beet is up in the air too. Without OSR to spread the load and 50% more beet to walk weekly this year, I wouldn't have felt comfortable walking the same total area that I could have done five years ago.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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    Votes: 79 42.5%
  • Up to 25%

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    Votes: 30 16.1%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 6 3.2%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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