A2104 - Custom harvesting (voluntary), sod farming, other farming not voluntary.

Operational Details
Combine or equipment operators, owning equipment, hired themselves and their harvesting machines out to farmers who haven’t the means or time available to harvest their own crops.

It is common for those in this business to have several machines and contract with several farmers for the purpose of harvesting their grain fields. They provide the combines, swathers, mowers, balers and other mobile equipment needed to remove crops and, if necessary, clean up afterwards. Repair, maintenance, and fueling of the equipment are part of this subcode.

The advantage of hiring out the harvesting is that custom harvesters provide a number of machines that results in the fields being harvested in a timely way. Occasionally they will also be hired to harvest forage, which is made from legumes such as alfalfa that are picked up by a forage harvester and ground, using a tub grinder (Usually owned by the farmer or rancher). Silage is made from legume forage, using anaerobic fermentation to preserve the fodder (i.e. corn, grasses), and produces winter feed for livestock.

Workers are generally involved in operating equipment, repairing and maintaining the machines, plus fueling and transporting the machines from place to place.

There are other types of farming that are a mandatory industry such as sod, berry and potato farming. This is generally accepted as a type of farming and does involve many of the same processes as grain farming but is not excluded from the Act.

SIC Codes
​000000033 - Custom harvesting (voluntary)
000000995 - Other Farming