LSU AgCenter Releases Projected 2023 Crop Costs

By Michael Diliberto, Ph.D.

LSU AgCenter

The 2023 Projected Costs and Returns (crop enterprise budgets) have been posted to the LSU AgCenter website. To access the enterprise budgets, please click on the desired “Crops” tab followed by the “Budget” icon. To streamline this process, the following direct links to the PDF enterprise budget documents can be copied into your web browser.

• Corn: https://www.lsuagcenter.com/articles/page1672324407563 ;

• Cotton: https://www.lsuagcenter.com/articles/page1672324905134 ;

• Rice: https://www.lsuagcenter.com/articles/page1672326302221 ;

• Sorghum: https://www.lsuagcenter.com/articles/page1672325209423 ;

• Soybeans: https://www.lsuagcenter.com/articles/page1672325315081 ;

• Sugarcane: https://www.lsuagcenter.com/articles/page1672326608429 ;

• Wheat: https://www.lsuagcenter.com/articles/page1672325069004 ;

These reports were compiled in late December 2022 for release in January of 2023. The input parameters that were assumed in the creation of the budgets are listed in the Table 1.

Table 1. Selected inputs used in the Louisiana 2023 crop enterprise budgets.

Input Parameter

Value per Unit

(Farm-grade) Diesel Fuel

$4.00 per gallon

Hired Labor Rate (AEWR for Louisiana)

$13.67 per hour

Short-term Interest Rate

6.4%

Intermediate Interest Rate

6.9%

N Fertilizer

$722 per ton or $0.79 per lb. of a.i.

P Fertilizer

$830 per ton or $0.90 per lb. of a.i.

K Fertilizer

$806 per ton or $0.67 per lb. of a.i.

The general format of the Projected Costs and Returns include a summary of the direct and fixed expenses per-acre, technical cost of field activities, breakeven returns above direct costs, and breakeven returns above total costs. These budget documents are intended to serve as a farm management planning tool for the upcoming crop year. For 2023, input prices remain high by historical standards. Although input prices for fertilizer and fuel have retreated from highs made earlier in the year, they remain elevated. With so much input price volatility, it is strongly suggested that growers take advantage of the interactive Excel spreadsheets to map their expected returns subject to input costs/needs.

Also posted to the AgCenter’s website are farm management decision support tools (Microsoft® Excel) for the 2023 crop year. They are located under the “Budget” or “Economics” portal of each crop’s webpage. Each support tool comes with a user’s guide.

Those farm management tools are:

• The 2023 Cotton Net Return Comparison with Corn and Soybeans: https://www.lsuagcenter.com/articles/page1672324641099 ;

• The 2023 Rice Farm Cash Flow Model: https://www.lsuagcenter.com/articles/page1672325907935 ;

• The Rice Rental Arrangement Net Return Evaluation Model: https://www.lsuagcenter.com/articles/page1672325686888 ;

• 2023 Furrow Irrigated Rice Enterprise Budget: https://www.lsuagcenter.com/articles/page1672325516954 ;

• 2023 Provisia® Rice Enterprise Budget: https://www.lsuagcenter.com/articles/page1672326169968 ;

• The 2023 Sugarcane Projected Costs and Returns Model: https://www.lsuagcenter.com/articles/page1672326459160 .

Please feel free to share this important information with growers and industry professionals in your area. I would like to thank the Louisiana Support Committee of Cotton Incorporated, the Louisiana Soybean and Feed Grain Research and Promotion Board, the Louisiana Rice Research Board, and the American Sugar Cane League for their support.