🏠 Farm information
Select your crop and Indiana region. All averages throughout the calculator are based on Purdue 2026 Langemeier benchmarks for your selection.
Your name(optional)
Email address *
You'll receive a unique code to return to your results later.
Total acres for this crop
Crop type
Indiana region
⚗️ Soil preparation — fertilizer
Enter your total fertilizer bill per acre, or use Advanced Options to break it down by product. Purdue 2026 average for rotation corn: ~$229/acre total.
Total fertilizer cost / acre (all products combined)
Enter your total annual fertilizer spend per acre including all products.
ℹ Select fertilizers you applied. Quantities and prices are editable — Purdue 2026 values are used as starting points.
Which fertilizers did you apply?
⚗️ Anhydrous ammonia (NH₃)
Qty applied (Purdue avg: ~238–287 lbs/ac)
Unit
Price/unit (avg ~$0.45/lb)
Total cost/acre (auto)
⚗️ DAP (18-46-0)
Qty applied (avg ~100–125 lbs/ac)
Unit
Price/unit (avg ~$0.41/lb)
Total cost/acre (auto)
⚗️ Potash (K)
Qty applied (avg ~120–170 lbs/ac)
Unit
Price/unit (avg ~$0.41/lb)
Total cost/acre (auto)
⚗️ Starter / 10-34-0
Qty (avg ~50 lbs/ac)
Unit
Price/unit (~$0.35/lb)
Total/acre (auto)
⚗️ Sulfur
Qty (avg ~33 lbs/ac)
Unit
Price/lb (~$1.05)
Total/acre (auto)
⚗️ Lime
Qty lbs/acre (avg ~600–720 lbs)
Unit
Price per ton (~$60/ton)
Total/acre (auto)
⚗️ Urea (46-0-0)
Qty lbs/acre (avg ~220 lbs)
Unit
Price/ton (~$591/ton)
Total/acre (auto)
⚗️ Manure
Quantity
Unit
Price/unit ($)
Total/acre (auto)
Detailed total / acre (auto-sum)
Not sure about quantities, application rates, or pricing? Describe your situation and the Purdue Extension team will follow up.
🌱 Seed & yield
Enter your total seed cost per acre (seed treatment included). Purdue avg: $124/acre for corn (traited variety at ~30,000 seeds/acre), $74/acre for soybeans.
Total seed cost / acre include seed treatment
Seeds/acre → units of seed converter
🧮 Use this calculator to convert seeds per acre and cost per bag into cost per acre.
Seeds/acre planting rate (corn avg: 30,000–32,000; soy: 150,000–170,000)
Seeds per unit/bag (corn: 80,000; soy: 140,000)
→ Units needed/acre
Price per unit/bag (corn avg: ~$280–340/bag)
→ Seed cost/acre ($)
Seeding rate (seeds/acre)
Price per 1,000 seeds ($)
Detailed seed cost / acre (auto)
Expected yield (bu/acre) corn avg 186–198 bu/ac; soybeans 60 bu/ac; wheat 85 bu/ac
Questions about optimal seeding rates, seed pricing, or variety comparisons? Describe your situation.
🛡️ Crop protection
Enter your total pesticide cost per acre. Purdue avg: $110–115/acre for corn herbicides; add insecticide/fungicide if used.
Total crop protection cost / acre all pesticides combined
Herbicides ($/acre) corn avg ~$110–115; soybeans ~$70
Insecticides ($/acre)
Fungicides ($/acre)
Other pesticides ($/acre)
Detailed total / acre (auto)
Questions about pesticide programs, product selection, or application costs? Describe your situation.
👷 Labor costs
Enter your total labor cost per acre. Purdue avg: $41/acre (operator + hired combined). Remember to include benefits in your hourly rate.
Total labor cost / acre include all benefits in wage
ℹ Include benefits (health insurance, retirement, payroll taxes) in your hourly rate.
Full-time $/hr include benefits · typical $17–22/hr
Part-time / seasonal $/hr include benefits
Full-time hours/acre total FT hours ÷ total acres
Part-time hours/acre
Calculated labor cost / acre (auto)
Not sure how to allocate labor hours across crops? Describe your situation.
🚜 Equipment & machinery
Enter your total machinery cost per acre, or use Advanced Options to select individual equipment. Purdue avg: $97/acre; Iowa State corn avg: $115–130/acre.
⚠ Machinery cost allocation is the hardest part of this calculator. If you're unsure how to split costs across crops, use the Help option below.
Total machinery ownership cost / acre fixed + variable costs combined
Enter your total machinery cost per acre for this crop. Purdue avg $97/acre pre-filled.
ℹ Select the equipment you use. Fixed cost = depreciation + interest + taxes + insurance. Variable = repairs + fuel. Click "Add another" for multiple units of the same type.
Tillage system
Do you irrigate?
Tillage & power
Planting
Spraying
Fertilizer application
Harvest
Grain handling & transport
Other equipment
Total from selected equipment (auto-calculated)
This value updates the total above automatically.
Select equipment —
This is the most common help request we get. If you own a combine worth $X and farm both corn and soybeans, how do you split the cost? Describe your equipment and we'll calculate it for you.
🏡 Land & property costs
Enter your land cost. Purdue 2026 avg: $238–268/acre cash rent depending on region. This is typically the single largest cost item.
Do you rent or own?
Cash rent / acre Purdue 2026 avg: $238–268/acre by region
Owned land costs
Annual property taxes (total $)
Annual mortgage payment (total $)
Land opportunity cost / acre Purdue approach: land value × 4–5% · typical $200–280/acre
If you own land outright, enter the annual return you forgo by farming rather than renting it out. Use Purdue avg cash rent ($238–268/acre) as a simple proxy.
Owned land cost / acre (auto)
Owned vs. rented split
ℹ Enter the percentage of your total acres that you own. The calculator will blend your owned cost and cash rent cost proportionally.
% of acres owned e.g. 40 if you own 200 of 500 acres
Blended land cost / acre (auto)
Questions about cash rent benchmarks, or how to calculate an ownership equivalent rent? Let us know your situation.
🌡️ Grain drying
Enter your total drying cost per acre. Purdue avg: corn ~$58/acre (continuous) or ~$46/acre (rotation); soybeans and wheat $0.
Total grain drying cost / acre on-farm or commercial combined
Do you dry your grain?
Fuel quantity (gal/acre) corn avg: 17–22 gal/acre
Fuel price ($/gal) avg ~$2.70/gal LP
Drying cost/acre (auto)
On-farm storage cost ($/acre/yr) bin depreciation + aeration electricity
🚛 Grain hauling
Enter your total grain hauling cost per acre. Purdue avg: ~$0.105/bu → corn ~$20/acre, soybeans ~$6/acre.
Total grain hauling cost / acre field to storage or elevator
Bu/acre hauled equals your expected yield
Hauling rate ($/bu) Purdue avg $0.105/bu
Hauling cost/acre (auto)
Shrink & handling ($/acre) typical $0.01–0.03/bu × yield
🛡️ Annual insurance
Crop, liability, and equipment insurance. Purdue avg $37/acre ($20 crop + $17 general). Enter your total annual premium.
Annual insurance — all policies (total $) auto-divided by your acres
🏢 General overhead
Annual fixed costs. Enter annual totals — auto-divided by your acres.
Utilities — electricity and water (annual $)
Office, phone, software (annual $)
Equipment repairs (annual $)
Miscellaneous maintenance (annual $)
Pest control contract (annual $)
Miscellaneous overhead ($/acre direct) Purdue avg $13/acre
🏦 Operating line of credit
If you use an operating line to finance variable costs, enter details here. The interest is calculated at 9-month average.
Total operating line amount ($)
Interest rate (%) typical 7–9% in 2026
Operating line interest / acre (auto)
✉️ Survey code & harvest price
Email address
Expected harvest price corn Dec 2026 futures avg ~$4.95; soybeans ~$11.65; wheat ~$6.15
Futures ($/bu)
Local basis ($/bu)
Cash price (auto)
ARC/PLC government payment ($/acre) enter 0 if not enrolled; wheat avg ~$35/acre
Questions about how to allocate overhead across crops, operating line interest calculations, or grain marketing? Describe your situation.
📋 Last year's actual expenses
Enter your total actual expenses from last year. This will be compared against your calculated total in Results so you can see how your costs have changed.
Total expenses — last year all-in cost including land, labor, inputs
Enter your total farm spend for this crop last year in dollars.
🔑 Your unique survey code
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