Crop breakevens / Rice
What an acre of rice costs, and what it has to make
The University of Arkansas 2026 budget for conventional flood-irrigated rice comes to $1,058.24 an acre to grow 170 bushels, before the landlord's 25% crop share. Counting that share at the budget's $5.80 price, it's $1,304.74 an acre, or about $7.67 a bushel ($17.06 per cwt).
Updated October 5, 2026
- Cost per acre
- $1,304.74
- Budget yield
- 76.5 cwt/acre
- Breakeven price
- $17.06 per cwt
Run it with your numbersOpens the free calculator with these numbers filled in, ready to change.
Where the money goes
| Per acre | Share | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Seed | 3% | $35.03 |
| Fertilizer | 12% | $159.34 |
| Chemical | 11% | $147.93 |
| Fuel/Labor | 49% | $633.08 |
| Land rent | 19% | $246.50 |
| Other | 6% | $82.86 |
| Total | $1,304.74 |
From University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, 2026 conventional rice budget (flood irrigated, 170 bu), grouped into Fencerow's six lines. 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. Converted from 170 bu at $5.80/bu (45 lb per bushel). Land rent is the landlord's 25% crop share at budget yield and price.
- Water is the biggest cost. Flooding the field runs $231.89 an acre: $87.17 of diesel for the pump, $53.21 of irrigation labor, $11.30 of repairs, and $80.21 of pump and well ownership.
- Drying and hauling. $68.00 to dry and $42.50 to haul 170 bushels. Both scale with the crop, so a big year costs more to handle.
- Chemicals add up across several passes. $147.93 an acre across herbicides, an insecticide, and a fungicide, plus $50 of aerial application.
Ten years of USDA prices and yields
| Year | US average price received | US average yield |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $12.10/cwt | 75.44 cwt/acre |
| 2024 | $15.10/cwt | 77.53 cwt/acre |
| 2023 | $17.30/cwt | 76.41 cwt/acre |
| 2022 | $19.80/cwt | 73.85 cwt/acre |
| 2021 | $16.10/cwt | 77.1 cwt/acre |
| 2020 | $14.40/cwt | 76.2 cwt/acre |
| 2019 | $13.60/cwt | 74.74 cwt/acre |
| 2018 | $12.60/cwt | 76.92 cwt/acre |
| 2017 | $12.90/cwt | 75.07 cwt/acre |
| 2016 | $10.40/cwt | 72.37 cwt/acre |
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats (national, marketing-year price received; final annual yield). Years USDA hasn't published yet are left out, not estimated. This product uses the NASS API but is not endorsed or certified by NASS.
What changes the answer for your farm
- Crop share versus cash rent. Under a 25% crop share the landlord's cost rises and falls with the crop. At the budget's price and yield it equals $246.50 an acre. A cash rent stays fixed whatever the harvest brings.
- Bushels and cwt. Arkansas budgets rice in 45-pound bushels; USDA reports prices per hundredweight. 170 bushels is 76.5 cwt, and $5.80 a bushel is about $12.89 per cwt.
- Your pumping cost. Diesel for flood irrigation is the line most worth replacing with your own number. Electric pumps, well depth, and acre-inches applied change it a lot.
These are one university's numbers, not yours. Put in your own costs, yield, and price, and keep them by field from year to year. Free for up to three fields.
Other crops
- Corn breakeven $911.98/acre, $4.32/bu
- Soybeans breakeven $679.11/acre, $11.13/bu
- Wheat breakeven $297.01/acre, $4.79/bu
- Cotton breakeven $1,450.12/acre, $1.21/lb
- Grain sorghum breakeven $814.94/acre, $7.76/bu