Growers paid a total of US$359.8 billion in production costs in 2017
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
The costs associated with running a commercial farm operation are increasing, a recent report indicates.
American farmers collectively paid US$359.8 billion to operate their farms in 2017, the USDA’s most recent Farm Production Expenditures summary says. That figure is up from US$346.9 billion in 2016.
Growers paid an average of US$176,352 to farm last year compared to US$169,035 in 2016.
The four largest expenditures for American farms in 2017 were feed, farm services, livestock, poultry and related expenses, and labor.
U.S. farmers also spent US$12 billion at the pumps for diesel to operate their equipment.
Within the Corn Belt, farmers in Iowa paid the most to run their farms.
State farmers paid US$26.4 million in operation costs last year. Livestock, poultry and “related expenses” accounted for US$4.3 million of the total expenditures, the USDA says.
Only farmers in two U.S. states paid less to operate their farms in 2017 than they did in 2016.
Farming in Georgia costed producers a total of US$7.09 million in 2017, which is down from US$7.1 million the year before.
And farmers in Minnesota paid US$16.69 million to produce crops, dairy and livestock in 2017. In 2016, farmers in the state spent US$17.2 million.
These large figures are an indication of how far the American ag industry has come in terms of production costs.
In 1973, when the USDA published its first Farm Production Expenditures survey for the 1971 crop year, American farmers paid US$54.5 billion in production costs.
That figure averaged out to about US$18,741 per farm.
Farms.com has reached out to ag economists for insights on potential reasons for the cost increases and how farmers can navigate these business expenses.