Crop Enterprise Budget Tool

youngfarm.ag/calculators.html?calc=cropbudget

Gross Revenue

$0/ac

Gross Return (excl. rent)

$0/ac

Net Return (after rent)

$0/ac

Yield & Price

Variable Costs

Total Variable $0/ac

Fixed Costs (Ownership)

Total Fixed $0/ac

Land Cost

Cash Rent

$ /ac

Rent as % of gross: 0% Research-supported sustainable max: 25% of gross

Total All Costs $0/ac

Sources & Notes: Cost and yield benchmarks adapted from University of Kentucky Extension Grain Profitability Outlook reports (Greg Halich, 2020–2026 series), with historical reconstruction for years where detailed line items were unavailable using published fertilizer unit prices, fuel prices, and summary gross return totals. The Halich reports publish statewide Kentucky benchmarks; yields and costs here have been adjusted to reflect western Kentucky average-productivity soil conditions (~175 bu corn, ~54–56 bu soybeans, ~72–88 bu wheat) rather than the statewide figures. Double-crop soybeans assume a ~10% yield drag vs. full-season beans and share machinery depreciation with the wheat crop (Halich deducts $20/ac for this overlap). Benchmark prices are Kentucky season-average (market year average) prices received by farmers, sourced directly from USDA NASS QuickStats (quickstats.nass.usda.gov); corn and soybean MYA runs Sep 1–Aug 31, winter wheat MYA runs Jun 1–May 31. Rental sustainability research from University of Illinois farmdoc, University of Minnesota FINBIN, Purdue, and Missouri Extension. All figures are per planted acre. This tool is for educational purposes — adjust costs to match your operation.

Shared Machinery Depreciation

Per Halich (University of Kentucky Extension), machinery depreciation is shared between wheat and the double-crop soybeans that follow it. Because both crops use the same equipment in the same season, counting full depreciation in each crop independently would double-count that overhead.

This calculator does not automatically deduct a shared credit — enter your actual depreciation for each crop as you see fit. A commonly cited adjustment is approximately $20/ac off the combined fixed cost total, but the right number depends on your equipment mix and how you allocate costs between enterprises.

25% Rent Sustainability Benchmark

Land-grant university research across the Corn Belt consistently finds that cash rent becomes financially unsustainable when it exceeds roughly 25% of gross crop revenue. At that threshold, a tenant farm's operating margin is typically too thin to cover machinery overhead, management, and unexpected yield or price losses.

Key sources: Purdue University Corn & Soybean Budgets; Iowa State University Extension Estimated Returns to Farmland; University of Kentucky Kentucky Farm Business Management annual summaries. The 24–27% range reflects regional variation in input costs and typical yield levels.