agricultural mole control

[Waz 4,293]

Had a phone call this morning, from a dairy farmer, has 400 acres takes sillage from some of it and wants me to go over and talk MOLES.

 

99.9% of my mole trapping has been gardens and some small holdings but not many.

 

My question is how do you go charging for this scale work, previously for gardens etc, id give a price to get rid of the moles and cover them for 1 month after, just in case I miss a straggler or any move in straight away.

 

But for farmers whats the best way to go, per job, per acre, per mole. He already mentioned being a skint farmer on the phone LOL.

 

Advice appreciated.

[Rolfe 2]

Had a phone call this morning, from a dairy farmer, has 400 acres takes sillage from some of it and wants me to go over and talk MOLES.

 

99.9% of my mole trapping has been gardens and some small holdings but not many.

 

My question is how do you go charging for this scale work, previously for gardens etc, id give a price to get rid of the moles and cover them for 1 month after, just in case I miss a straggler or any move in straight away.

 

But for farmers whats the best way to go, per job, per acre, per mole. He already mentioned being a skint farmer on the phone LOL.

 

Advice appreciated.

In my experience most farmers plead poverty but like most of us they want to pay as little as possible. I always give them two options..........price for the entire job........or by the hour (TIME SPENT ON THE GROUND).

Never say you will clear every mole (fatal) they will have you going back for evermore for nowt. I usually have a good idea how long it will take me to clear a job up...........and tell them i will come for X amount of days for a set price.

What you decide to charge depends on what value you put on your time.

 

Rolfe.

[mole trapper 1,703]

Some wise words there from Rolfe, the only thing i would add is make sure you allow for extra time, as for him being a poor farmer with 400 acres of dairy, i dont think so, especially now they are finally getting a fair price per litre at long last. Just remember to remind him that if he is making grass silage it is worth around £30 a tonne to him and it only takes one good mole hill to ruin that amount, false economy not to get the moles sorted before harrowing and rolling. Then you also have the fact that listeria will kill a good high yeilding cow quick as you like if not caught in time, dairy cows are fetching up to a £1000 at the moment.

My background is farming, mainly dairy, my wife FPO milks 450 cows once a day so we are pretty heavily involved with farming, but i still groan everytime a farm job comes in because i know i will have to listen about how dear i am and how old ??????? was the best mole man in the area he killed everything with his worms and only charged a fiver to do a thousand acres, bla blah bla.

Give me domestic work everytime.

[comanche 3,280]

Some wise words there from Rolfe, the only thing i would add is make sure you allow for extra time, as for him being a poor farmer with 400 acres of dairy, i dont think so, especially now they are finally getting a fair price per litre at long last. Just remember to remind him that if he is making grass silage it is worth around £30 a tonne to him and it only takes one good mole hill to ruin that amount, false economy not to get the moles sorted before harrowing and rolling. Then you also have the fact that listeria will kill a good high yeilding cow quick as you like if not caught in time, dairy cows are fetching up to a £1000 at the moment.

My background is farming, mainly dairy, my wife FPO milks 450 cows once a day so we are pretty heavily involved with farming, but i still groan everytime a farm job comes in because i know i will have to listen about how dear i am and how old ??????? was the best mole man in the area he killed everything with his worms and only charged a fiver to do a thousand acres, bla blah bla.

Give me domestic work everytime.

 

@ Rolfe and Mole trapper....

 

Waz,...if you HAVE to do the job,.then charge the guy a good price that suits YOU,...

 

Domestic customers are used to paying plumbers an the like £50 just to turn up on the doorstep so they find my no mole ,no fee policy a bit hard to comprehend.Sometimes I have to feign total horror as they push "petrol money" money at me before a trap has even been set.Usually given a cup of tea as well and have been paid in full twice for a mole "shared"by two adjacent gardens.I did'nt rip em off,they just would'nt agree to split the fee as I suggested!...Moles on farms? If in doubt ask where the most imediate problem is and give a price for a weeks'(or whatever period seems relevant)campaign.Farmer will be monitoring your skills and you'll get a good idea of his willingness to pay -up!

[whin 463]

ive charged farmers a visit per week then a weekly or monthly visit to keep on top of the moles etc , tell him you will do it for a few days a hard trapping then then weeekly visits then monthly had some not bad little earners , but all in all privat punters are the best moles rabbits in private gardens wasps etc all good earners charge him a fee of £15 quid an hour explain to him whats invovled and get him to sing a contract

[heart of wales 19]

Out of intrest ask him why he wants them controlled ????

Then the best way for both him and you would be for him to harrow the fields the day before you start ,you can then see fresh activity,and treat accordingly,charge him per visit,laying the traps checking and resetting the traps,

When you finish there should be no fresh molehills,point that out to him as sure as eggs is eggs within a couple of days more moles will come,he can then see they are fresh and not ones you have missed.

Mole jobs go wrong because of a lack of communication and aggreement at the start.

Good luck not all farmers are tightwads just good business people being screwed by a government who hates the countryside and anything to do with it.

[dogs-n-natives 1,182]

Im a pest controller, mole trapping is the bulk of my work. And in particular, farmland. Private gardens and comercial grounds I charge per job. But for the farmers I charge per mole. Its the best way, the farmer allways gets what he pays for then, and you should have a customer for life. £3.50 on allotment land(bordering the fell) and £4. all other agricultural land. If your down south you could easy charge 5 or even 6 quid per head.

[richie 1]

Im a pest controller, mole trapping is the bulk of my work. And in particular, farmland. Private gardens and comercial grounds I charge per job. But for the farmers I charge per mole. Its the best way, the farmer allways gets what he pays for then, and you should have a customer for life. £3.50 on allotment land(bordering the fell) and £4. all other agricultural land. If your down south you could easy charge 5 or even 6 quid per head.

 

 

£3.50 per mole ? is that what youre saying ?

[dogs-n-natives 1,182]

Im a pest controller, mole trapping is the bulk of my work. And in particular, farmland. Private gardens and comercial grounds I charge per job. But for the farmers I charge per mole. Its the best way, the farmer allways gets what he pays for then, and you should have a customer for life. £3.50 on allotment land(bordering the fell) and £4. all other agricultural land. If your down south you could easy charge 5 or even 6 quid per head.

 

 

£3.50 per mole ? is that what youre saying ?

Yes! And thats on the cheep side. What you hmmming at??? Most of the trappers up here charge per mole. I charge less on the edge of the fell as there is always a stream of moles comming down off the fells, there a nightmare for the hill farmers, who are generally less well off than the low grounders, hence £3.50.

[Rolfe 2]

Im a pest controller, mole trapping is the bulk of my work. And in particular, farmland. Private gardens and comercial grounds I charge per job. But for the farmers I charge per mole. Its the best way, the farmer allways gets what he pays for then, and you should have a customer for life. £3.50 on allotment land(bordering the fell) and £4. all other agricultural land. If your down south you could easy charge 5 or even 6 quid per head.

So are you saying if you went and caught a single mole for a client...........you would just charge £3.50

 

Rolfe.

[dogs-n-natives 1,182]

Im a pest controller, mole trapping is the bulk of my work. And in particular, farmland. Private gardens and comercial grounds I charge per job. But for the farmers I charge per mole. Its the best way, the farmer allways gets what he pays for then, and you should have a customer for life. £3.50 on allotment land(bordering the fell) and £4. all other agricultural land. If your down south you could easy charge 5 or even 6 quid per head.

So are you saying if you went and caught a single mole for a client...........you would just charge £3.50

 

Rolfe.

On farmland I charge per mole, Ive never had a farmer ring me and ask me to come and clear his 'ONE' mole from his land. I catch over 200 moles a week and sometimes a lot more. Theres plenty of them up here.

This week I caught 2 moles in a paddock, and 5 from a caravan site, these jobs were charged 'per job'.

Any other trappers on here charge per mole?

[Rolfe 2]

I wouldn't bulk at £3.50 a mole Rolfe,...

 

My needs are small,.I live a frugal life....

 

C'mon now,.surely you remember when you could have a great night out on a couple of quid,..go to the Pictures,.buy a Choc Ice,..enjoy a Chip Supper,...get a Bus ride home,.and still have change in yer pocket

 

 

All the best,.CHALKWARREN....

You missed out the woman as well Chalky..........

 

Rolfe.

[dogs-n-natives 1,182]

I wouldn't bulk at £3.50 a mole Rolfe,...

 

C'mon now,.surely you remember when you could have a great night out on a couple of quid,..go to the Pictures,.buy a Choc Ice,..enjoy a Chip Supper,...get a Bus ride home,.and still have change in yer pocket

 

 

All the best,.CHALKWARREN....

FUNNY! But I earn a good wage for my age, so im happy, very happy! And im not changing my prices, not yet anyway. Oh and like I said, its £4 per mole. Its only £3.50 on the allotment ground as theres so many of them, and its so easy to catch hundreds of them very quickly.

[trappa 518]

ive got a couple of farms that size. I work my way across, maybe say traps in a field one day. The next set the same in the next field, check the others and move on. I try not to use too many on any one farm in case they get nicked.

Dont give a time as it will take a while. One word of advice will be to stipulate that he doesnt need to be in the fields with his machines for fertilizing etc, sounds obvious but ive had loads lost because of it.

[richie 1]

Im a pest controller, mole trapping is the bulk of my work. And in particular, farmland. Private gardens and comercial grounds I charge per job. But for the farmers I charge per mole. Its the best way, the farmer allways gets what he pays for then, and you should have a customer for life. £3.50 on allotment land(bordering the fell) and £4. all other agricultural land. If your down south you could easy charge 5 or even 6 quid per head.

 

 

£3.50 per mole ? is that what youre saying ?

Yes! And thats on the cheep side. What you hmmming at??? Most of the trappers up here charge per mole. I charge less on the edge of the fell as there is always a stream of moles comming down off the fells, there a nightmare for the hill farmers, who are generally less well off than the low grounders, hence £3.50.

 

the reason why i was hmmmmmmm about the £3.50 or £4.00 price is that you never said how many moles you caught at a time or in a week...

 

now if youre catching 200 or so a week then thats a different story...

 

i charge per mole also, but a hell of a lot more than that...