Written by RRN Staff – October 9th
HENDERSON, Neb. — For farmers, major equipment purchases can represent a significant investment. Near Henderson, two neighboring farmers found a way to make one combine purchase work for both operations.
Jay Dee Janzen had been looking to upgrade his combine when he began talking with his neighbor, Jason Lewis, who was also considering an equipment upgrade. Rather than both farmers purchasing new machines independently, the two worked out an arrangement that combined a combine sale with custom harvesting.
Janzen sold his combine to Lewis at a discount with the agreement that Lewis would custom harvest about 1,500 acres for Janzen over three years, or roughly 500 acres per year.
“We made an arrangement, so we sold it to them at a discount with the understanding that he would custom harvest about one thousand five hundred acres over the next three years,” Janzen said.
The arrangement gives Lewis access to a larger, more modern combine while providing Janzen with help getting his crop harvested. Janzen estimates the arrangement can shorten his harvest by about a week.
For Janzen, the agreement also reflects a broader philosophy about how farmers can work with the people around them.
“We need to cooperate more with our neighbors, our friends and family,” Janzen said. “Because if we keep competing against each other for everything, it’s going to make us all worse at it.”
The arrangement comes as harvest gets underway near Henderson following wet conditions that kept equipment out of the field. Janzen said four inches of rain initially made him expect a long, drawn-out harvest, but the ground handled the moisture better than anticipated.
Early observations of the crop are mixed. Janzen described the early corn as decent and said soybeans were drying down quickly, with some beans already being harvested at 9% to 10% moisture. Overall, he expects the crop to be average or possibly a little below average.
Beyond the equipment arrangement, Janzen said farmers also have to consider how much capital is tied up in modern farming equipment and whether every operation needs to handle every task independently.
“You need to learn to get along and work with your neighbors instead of trying to do it all yourself, because that’s what’s going to break you,” he said.
The custom harvesting arrangement also changes the dynamic of harvest for both farmers. Lewis gets more use out of the combine he purchased, while Janzen gains additional harvesting capacity without having to handle all of his acres himself.
Janzen said the goal is not necessarily to get every acre harvested immediately, but to get the work done in a timely manner.
“Mother nature is not who we’re up against,” he said. “You want to get it done in a timely manner. But it doesn’t all have to get done today.”
As harvest progresses, Janzen’s arrangement with Lewis offers one example of how neighboring farms can use equipment, labor and relationships to their mutual advantage — rather than viewing every farm operation as a competition.
Watch this video by Rural Radio of Janzen & Lewis –
