Interstate Custom Combining in the Great Plains in 1971

Some 3,431 U.S. interstate custom combine crews harvested 14.1 million acres of crops on the Great Plains in 1971. Of the 35 percent of the wheat acreage custom harvested, U.S. interstate crews harvested 89 percent and Canadian crews harvested less than 4 percent. Chief competitors to the U.S. interstate cutters are U.S. intrastate custom operators harvesting neighbors' grain. Interstate combine crew sizes ranged from 1 to 12 combines but crews having 2 machines were most common. Twenty-foot headers were the most common size. Combines harvested an average 1,871 acres per machine. Supporting the combines were 12,209 trucks— usually 1 grain hauling truck per combine and 1 pickup truck per crew. Labor on the 3,431 crews totaled 16,414 workers.