Fencerow

Crop breakeven calculator

What an acre has to yield, and what you need per bushel, to cover your costs. It's free, you don't need an account, and the formula is shown under every result.

Just trying it out? for soybeans. Your own costs will differ.

Where the examples come from

Costs and yield: Iowa State University, Estimated Costs of Crop Production in Iowa 2026 (herbicide-tolerant soybeans following corn, 61 bu). Price: University of Illinois farmdoc, 2027 budget price assumption. Fuel/Labor in these examples covers all machinery costs (ownership, fuel, repairs), hauling, drying, irrigation, and labor. Insurance, interest, and miscellaneous costs are under Other.

Costs per acre

Leave a line blank if you don't know it yet. Blank isn't counted as $0, and the result tells you what's missing. Type 0 only for a cost that really is zero.

Yield and price
Breakeven yield56.6bu/acre at $12.00
Breakeven price$11.13per bu at 61 bu/acre
Seed$63.10
Fertilizer$74.88
Chemical$75.00
Fuel/Labor$156.26
Land rent$274.00
Other$35.87
Cost per acre$679.11
Revenue per acre$732.00
Profit per acre$52.89
Return on cost7.8%
Show the mathcost per acre = $63.10 + $74.88 + $75.00 + $156.26 + $274.00 + $35.87 = $679.11breakeven yield = cost per acre / price = $679.11 / $12.00 = 56.59 bu/acrebreakeven price = cost per acre / expected yield = $679.11 / 61 = $11.13/buprofit per acre = 61 × $12.00 - $679.11 = $52.89

Want to keep this number? A free account saves it by field, next to every other year, and adds USDA prices and a rotation check. The free plan covers three fields.

Save it free

How the math works

Add up what an acre costs you. Then:

The example numbers are an illustration of the arithmetic, not a market price or a typical cost.

Questions

What's the difference between breakeven yield and breakeven price?

Breakeven yield is how many bushels (or cwt, or pounds) an acre has to produce at your price to cover its costs. Breakeven price is what you need per unit at your expected yield. Same costs, two ways of asking whether the acre pays.

Why doesn't a blank cost count as zero?

Because a cost you haven't looked up yet isn't free. Counting it as $0 makes the acre look more profitable than it is. Blank lines are listed as not entered, so you can see the result is incomplete. Type 0 only when a cost really is zero, like rent on ground you own outright.

Where do I get my cost numbers?

Your own invoices and rent agreement are best. If you're planning ahead, most land-grant universities publish crop enterprise budgets each year through their extension service, broken out by the same kinds of lines used here.

Does it include crop insurance or government payments?

No. It only counts the costs, yield, and price you enter. That keeps the number honest about what the crop itself has to earn.

Is what I type saved anywhere?

No. The math runs in your browser and nothing is sent to us. To save numbers by field and compare years, make a free Fencerow account.

What does an acre cost in a published budget? See crop breakevens for corn, soybeans, rice, wheat, cotton, and sorghum. Want this for every field, every year? See how Fencerow works.