# 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.

- URL: https://neurobird.com/customharvesting/
- Product: Neurobird Custom Harvesting Operations Platform
- Niche: custom harvesting
- Buyer: custom harvesters and harvest crews
- Status: in development, open for early access
- Updated: 2026-08-22

## What Neurobird Custom Harvesting does

- 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
- Settle with the grower off the tickets rather than off a recollection of the week

## How it works

1. **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.
2. **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.
3. **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.

## From the source material

> Harvest permits are valid only while involved in custom harvest operations from January 1 through December 31 of each calendar year.

Source: dor.sd.gov, https://dor.sd.gov/businesses/motor-vehicle/harvest-vehicles/

## Industry context

- **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. (source: 49 CFR 395.1, https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/395.1)
- **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. (source: 49 CFR 391.2, https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/391.2)
- **$75** Fee 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. (source: South Dakota Department of Revenue, https://dor.sd.gov/businesses/motor-vehicle/harvest-vehicles/)
- **16 years** Age 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. (source: Kansas Highway Patrol, https://kansashighwaypatrol.gov/find-a-troop/troop-location-map/technical-operations-bureau/troop-i/custom-harvester-operations-requirements/)
- **81.5 feet** Overall 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. (source: Kansas Highway Patrol, https://kansashighwaypatrol.gov/find-a-troop/troop-location-map/technical-operations-bureau/troop-i/custom-harvester-operations-requirements/)
- **$750,000** Minimum 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. (source: 49 CFR 387.9, https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/387.9)

## Pricing

- Single crew: $129 per month
- Harvest run: $399 per month
- Multi crew operation: $980 per month

## Questions

### 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.

## Sources

- [49 CFR 391.2, general exceptions to driver qualification](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/391.2)
- [49 CFR 395.1, hours of service, agricultural operations](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/395.1)
- [49 CFR 390.39, exemptions for covered farm vehicles](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/390.39)
- [Kansas Highway Patrol, custom harvester operations requirements](https://kansashighwaypatrol.gov/find-a-troop/troop-location-map/technical-operations-bureau/troop-i/custom-harvester-operations-requirements/)
- [South Dakota Department of Revenue, harvest vehicles](https://dor.sd.gov/businesses/motor-vehicle/harvest-vehicles/)
- [20 CFR 655.122, H-2A contracts and worker protections](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/20/655.122)

## Contact

- office@neurobird.com
- https://neurobird.com/