Custom harvesting software that runs the acres, the permits and the crew from one season file
Custom harvesting is the business of cutting and hauling another grower's crop for hire, usually on a run that follows the ripening north across several states. The regulation follows the run. Part 391 of the federal safety rules does not apply to a driver in a custom-harvesting operation hauling machinery to a farm or harvested crops to storage, Part 395 stops applying inside a 150 air-mile radius during planting and harvesting, and each state sells its own harvest permit. Neurobird holds the field, the machine and the paperwork together.
Neurobird Custom Harvesting in short
- Capture acres and bushels at the field instead of reconstructing them from a notepad in November
- Hold the permit, registration and fuel obligations per state on the run that actually crossed it
- Track machine hours and moves so the header trailer is where the combine is going to be
- 150 air-miles Radius inside which the hours of service rules do not apply during planting and harvesting periods, measured from the source of the commodity or the distribution point for farm supplies, as each state defines those periods. 49 CFR 395.1
- 391.2 The farm custom operation exception. The driver qualification rules, including the medical examiner's certificate, do not apply to a driver hauling machinery to a farm for custom harvesting or hauling custom harvested crops to storage or market. 49 CFR 391.2
- Pricing runs 129 to 980 US dollars per month across 3 tiers. Early access is free.
What custom harvesters and harvest crews actually deal with
Why it stays broken
A custom harvester is a trucking company, a contractor and a seasonal employer at once, moving through a different regulatory jurisdiction every few weeks. The federal rules carve out real exemptions for the work, but each one has conditions and none of them touches registration or size and weight, which stay with the states. Farm software is written for a grower who stays put, and fleet software has never heard of a header trailer, so the run is managed on a phone and a folder in the pickup.
Under 49 CFR 391.2, the driver qualification rules do not apply to a driver in a custom-harvesting operation hauling farm machinery to a farm or custom harvested crops to storage or market.
Harvest permits are valid only while involved in custom harvest operations from January 1 through December 31 of each calendar year.
What the rules say about a harvest run
The federal exemptions written specifically for custom harvesting, the limits that come with them, and two states that publish their harvest permit rules in full.
Radius inside which the hours of service rules do not apply during planting and harvesting periods, measured from the source of the commodity or the distribution point for farm supplies, as each state defines those periods.
49 CFR 395.1The farm custom operation exception. The driver qualification rules, including the medical examiner's certificate, do not apply to a driver hauling machinery to a farm for custom harvesting or hauling custom harvested crops to storage or market.
49 CFR 391.2Fee for a South Dakota harvest permit, required for each truck or tractor and each grain hauling trailer, valid while involved in custom harvest operations from January 1 through December 31.
South Dakota Department of RevenueAge at which Kansas will issue a commercial driver's license for class B and class C vehicles used in a farm custom harvesting operation, against 18 for the state's seasonal commercial licence.
Kansas Highway PatrolOverall length a Kansas truck tractor and two trailer combination may reach when carrying custom harvest equipment during April through November, against the 65 feet that would otherwise apply.
Kansas Highway PatrolMinimum public liability a for-hire carrier of nonhazardous property must maintain in interstate commerce with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more.
49 CFR 387.9Neurobird Custom Harvesting Operations Platform
One record per job: the grower, the fields and their acres, the machines and trucks assigned, the tickets that came off the scale, the permits each state required on the way there, and the settlement that follows from all of it.
- 1Capture acres and bushels at the field instead of reconstructing them from a notepad in November
- 2Hold the permit, registration and fuel obligations per state on the run that actually crossed it
- 3Track machine hours and moves so the header trailer is where the combine is going to be
- 4Settle with the grower off the tickets rather than off a recollection of the week
What changes with Neurobird Custom Harvesting?
The same work, read left to right: how it runs today, and how it runs once the record is in one place.
| Today | With Neurobird Custom Harvesting |
|---|---|
| Acres cut are written on a notepad in the combine cab and typed into a spreadsheet three states later | Capture acres and bushels at the field instead of reconstructing them from a notepad in November |
| A truck crosses a line without the harvest permit that state sells, and the crew finds out at the scale | Hold the permit, registration and fuel obligations per state on the run that actually crossed it |
| Settlement with the grower turns into an argument about bushels because the ticket and the field never got joined | Track machine hours and moves so the header trailer is where the combine is going to be |
Who is this for?
The same run, three different operations.
You move with the ripening
Texas to the Dakotas in one season, with a new permit regime every state line. You need the paperwork per state and the acres per grower captured as you go.
You stay inside 150 miles
Chopping close to home for dairies on tight windows. You need machine scheduling and per field acres more than you need interstate permits.
You harvest for neighbours
Your own crop first, then custom acres to keep the combine busy. You need a clean split between your acres and billable acres when the season ends.
The season board, as your crew would work it
Close a field and watch the acres, the machine hours and the settlement move together.
| Requirement | Status | Next due | |
|---|---|---|---|
| FIELD-19, cut and hauled, 41 loads ticketed | current | in 42d | |
| JOB-198, settled, moisture adjustment applied | due soon | in 9d | |
| TRUCK-6, entering South Dakota, harvest permit on file | current | in 120d | |
| JOB-214, Kimball grower, 640 acres wheat, 3 machines | overdue | 3d late | |
| JOB-214, Kimball grower, 640 acres wheat, 3 machines | current | in 64d |
Tick a requirement to file evidence against it.
How does Neurobird Custom Harvesting work?
Book the season
Growers, fields and expected acres are laid out as a route before the first machine moves, so the run has a plan the crew can see rather than a series of phone calls.
Work the field
Acres, moisture, tickets and machine hours are captured where they happen, on a phone with no signal if that is what the field has, and reconcile when it gets one.
Close the job
Settlement is built from the tickets, the permits and fuel receipts are attached to the state they belong to, and the season file survives long enough to price next year.
Custom harvesting software questions, answered
Key terms
- What is custom harvesting?
- It is harvesting and hauling a crop for hire on someone else's ground, usually with your own combines, headers, grain carts and trucks. Many operations run north with the ripening across several states, which is why permits and registration matter as much as machine capacity.
- What are the federal exemptions that apply to a custom harvester?
- Two big ones. Under 49 CFR 391.2 the driver qualification rules do not apply when hauling machinery to a farm for custom harvesting or hauling custom harvested crops to storage or market. Under 49 CFR 395.1 the hours of service rules do not apply inside a 150 air-mile radius during the planting and harvesting periods a state has set.
Do those exemptions cover permits and registration?
No, and that is where crews get caught. Size, weight and registration stay with the states. South Dakota sells a $75 harvest permit for each truck, tractor and grain trailer, and Kansas issues 30 or 60 day harvest permits and a separate oversize permit for headers on the interstate.
Does this replace our accounting software?
No. Invoices and payroll stay where they are. This holds the operating record underneath them: which fields were cut, by which machine, on what day, with which tickets, so the settlement has something to stand on.
Will it work with no signal in the field?
That is the assumption it starts from. Acres, tickets and machine hours are captured on the phone in the cab and reconcile when the truck reaches a road that has coverage.
Why we are building this
We went looking for businesses that move a great deal of money on very little paperwork, and custom harvesting kept coming up. Several million dollars of iron crosses six state lines in a season, and the record of what got cut is a notepad in a cab. The exemptions written for this work are real and specific, and none of them helps you remember which permit South Dakota wanted. That is a record problem, and record problems are what we build. The rules we read while scoping this are linked above. If we have your run wrong, tell us and we will fix it.
Where the requirement comes from
Primary sources, straight from the regulators.
- 49 CFR 391.2, general exceptions to driver qualification The farm custom operation exception written out, and the two subsections it does not cover.
- 49 CFR 395.1, hours of service, agricultural operations The 150 air-mile radius, what counts as a source, and why the state sets the season.
- 49 CFR 390.39, exemptions for covered farm vehicles What a covered farm vehicle is exempt from, and the list of other agricultural exceptions it stacks with.
- Kansas Highway Patrol, custom harvester operations requirements Permits by vehicle situation, seasonal licences, header widths and the length limits in feet.
- South Dakota Department of Revenue, harvest vehicles The $75 permit, which vehicles need one, where it goes on the windshield and where to buy it.
- 20 CFR 655.122, H-2A contracts and worker protections Housing, the three-fourths guarantee and the inbound travel reimbursement at the halfway point.
How much does Neurobird Custom Harvesting cost?
Priced per operation because the season file belongs to the business rather than to a seat in a combine. Fields, tickets and machines are unlimited on the upper tiers.
- Up to 5 machines
- Field and acre capture
- Ticket log
- Grower settlements
- Unlimited machines
- Multi state permit tracking
- Crew scheduling
- Machine hour reporting
- Several crews at once
- Equipment moves
- Season cost analysis
- Priority support
Get free early access
Early access means we load your grower list, your machine fleet and last season's acres before you type anything, and the account stays free while we do it.
Straight answer on where this is: The software is in development. Nothing is purchasable today. Early access means you shape it and pay nothing while we build.
Prefer email? Write to office@neurobird.com and a person will reply. No autoresponder.