6 min read · Updated 5 August 2026
Why the comparison usually cannot be made
A contractor's price is all-in: his machine, his diesel, his driver, his depreciation. Seed is a material. If both land in one “costs” column then cost per hectare his way versus yours is not a hard question, it is an impossible one. Split them at capture and the answer falls out on its own.
The part nobody says out loud
Your own cost, worked out this way, is diesel and materials. It leaves out depreciation, repairs, servicing, insurance, finance and your own time — and the contractor's rate contains every single one of them.
So the comparison is biased toward owning, always
If your way looks a little cheaper, it is probably not cheaper at all. Only a large gap is telling you something. Any tool that shows you these two numbers without saying this is selling you a combine.
Compare the same job, not the season
Planting and harvesting are different decisions and a season average hides both. Line harvesting up against harvesting and the picture is usually clear within two seasons.
What else belongs in the decision
- Timeliness — a contractor who arrives ten days late costs you yield that no per-hectare figure will ever show.
- Capital — money in a combine is money not in land, cattle or the bond.
- Utilisation — a machine used forty hours a season is a very expensive machine per hour.
- Who fixes it at six o'clock in the rain, and whether you want that to be you.
A sheet to start collecting it
Contractor vs own machine — free template
Opens in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers. No sign-up.
| Date | Job | Land | Hectares | Who did it | Contractor charged (R) | Your diesel (litres) | R per litre | Your hours | Materials (R) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-01-20 | Planted | Rivier blok | 5.9 | Own machine | — | 62 | 23.46 | 8 | 6 270 |
| 2026-02-14 | Planted | Stasie blok | 16.7 | Loonwerker — Van Wyk | 14 195 | — | — | — | — |
| 2026-06-25 | Harvested | Rivier blok | 5.9 | Loonwerker — Van Wyk | 9 800 | — | — | — | — |
- Keep the contractor's price OUT of the materials column. His price is all-in — his machine, his diesel, his driver — and seed is a material. Added together, cost per hectare his way versus yours cannot be worked out at all.
- Your own column will always look cheaper than it is. It is diesel and materials; it leaves out depreciation, repairs, insurance, finance and your own time — and the contractor's rate contains every one of those.
- So treat a small gap in your favour as no gap. Only a large one is telling you something.
- Compare the same JOB, not the season. Planting and harvesting are different decisions and averaging them hides both.
Or have it worked out as you go
FarmBind puts your rand-per-hectare beside the loonwerker's for each kind of job, and says plainly what your own column leaves out.
Start freeCommon questions
- How many seasons before the comparison means anything?
- Two, for a job you do a few times a year. One season is weather, not a trend.
- Should I put my own labour into it?
- If you can put an honest number on it, yes — and then say that you have. The usual mistake is leaving it out silently, which makes owning look better than it is.
- What about a contractor who supplies the chemical too?
- Ask him to split it on the invoice. If he will not, record the whole amount as contractor cost and note it — do not spread it across columns by guessing.