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Production
Inputs
The per-unit costs of agricultural production inputs such as feed, fertilizers,
crop chemicals, and seed also vary widely due to production systems. For
instance, a corn farmer might have nitrogen fertilizer costs of $50 per
acre while a soybean farmer down the road might have no nitrogen fertilizer
costs due to a "legume" ability
to fix nitrogen. Crop chemicals such as herbicides, insecticides, and
fungicides are applied on an "as-needed" basis and applications
vary widely from farm-to-farm, and from crop-to-crop. Seed costs tend
to vary somewhat less. For instance, farmers in Indiana paid an average
of over $90 per bag of seed corn and about $21 per bushel of soybeans
in 2001. The bag of seed corn would plant about 2 ½ acres, while
the bushel of soybeans would plant about an acre.
In addition to land, machinery, fertilizer, crop chemicals, and seed,
farmers face costs for buildings, grain handling facilities, hired labor,
fuel for vehicles, heating, and conditioning crops, livestock, feed and
veterinary care for the livestock, taxes, crop insurance, property insurance,
and the list goes on. All of the expenses add to the challenge of remaining
profitable and economically viable for the long term.
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