As a rule, professionals serving America’s farmers are paid more for their expertise in Y2K than they were two years ago.

That’s according to the latest CROP DECISIONS compensation survey conducted last spring. The unscientific survey was carried in a spring issue of the magazine; readers were asked to respond to a series of questions regarding salary, bonus payments and benefits. More than 275 readers responded. A fourth indicated they worked in professional farm management, while 79 percent indicated they were involved in some kind of crop consulting.

The biggest single professional represented was Certified Crop Advisers (CCAs), with 228 respondents saying they hold that accreditation.

MOST PROFESSIONALS GAIN
Three of the five major categories of ag professionals represented in the survey indicated total compensation gains over 1998. Professional farm managers working at a farm management company reported a six percent drop in total compensation, while ag retailers reported a drop of two percent.

The biggest gainers were the self-employed, whose total compensation packages jumped a whopping 25 percent to almost $90,000. This same group reported no benefits in the 1998 survey but estimated their benefit packages in 2000 at almost $16,000.

Independent crop consultants reported a modest five percent gain, while professional farm managers working at banks said their compensation was two percent higher than in 1998.

EDUCATION AND ACREAGE
Typically, higher salaries tended to go to those who managed or consulted the most acres and who went further in school.

For example, CCAs who consulted on more than 30,000 acres earned more than $11,000 more per year than their peers consulting on 5,000 or fewer acres. Independent crop consultants offered an even more striking difference: the extra 25,000 or so acres bumped their income a cool $34,000.

Professional farm managers show gains almost as impressive; an AFM who manages 10,000 acres averages about $43,000 a year, while his colleague with 30,000 acres pulls down almost 60 grand.

MATURE PROFESSIONS
A third of the respondents report their age at 50+ years, with another third between 41-50; 40 percent of them have been ag professionals for more than 20 years.

About half of the professional farm managers manage between 10,000 to 20,000 acres; a third of crop consultants fall in that range.

TABLE 1: AVERAGE CASH COMPENSATION BY TYPE OF FIRM
Type of Firm	Salary	Bonus	Total Cash Compensation	Est Value of Benefits	Total Compensation
Self-Employed	$55,107	$18,917	$74,024	$15,960	$89,984
Farm Management Firm	$42,853	$13,200	$56,053	$8,962	$65,015
Independent Crop Consultant	$40,775	$12,210	$52,985	$11,500	$64,485
Banks	$44,786	$4,625	$49,411	$11,000	$60,411
Retailer	$38,326	$8,150	$46,476	$9,968	$56,444

TABLE 2: AVERAGE SALARY BY EDUCATION
Education Level	Farm Manager	Crop Consultant	CCA
Some College	$42,000	$44,000	$38,765
College Graduate	$46,446	$49,283	$39,959
Master’s Degree/Above	$48,532	$45,250	$41,558

TABLE 3: AVERAGE SALARY BY ACRES MANAGED OR CONSULTED
Acres	Professional Farm Managers	Crop Consultants	CCAs
1-5,000	--	$30,550	$33,317
5,001-10,000	$42,940	$45,467	$38,988
10,001-20,000	$48,189	$51,192	$39,620
20,001-30,000	$34,667	$41,583	$40,600
30,000+	$59,667	$64,625	$44,724

TABLE 4: AVERAGE BASE SALARY BY ACCREDITATION
Certified Professional Crop Consultant-Independent (CPCC-I)	$55,460
Accredited Farm Manager (AFM)	$46,761
Certified Crop Adviser (CCA)	$40,081

TABLE 5: SALARY * TRENDS BY AREAS OF ACCREDITATION
	1994	1996	1998	2000
AFM	$49,392	$55,825	$60,183	$56,053
CPCC-I	$56,984	$50,250	$51,867	$52,985
CCA	**	**	$42,124	$43,789
*Includes base salary plus cash bonus. **Not tracked in 1994 or 1996.