Statistical Bulletin No. (SB-974-1) 28 pp

August 2001

Characteristics and Production Costs of U.S. Corn Farms

The production costs for a bushel of corn ranged from an average of $1.19 per bushel for those farmers in the lowest quartile to $3.67 per bushel for corn farmers in the highest quartile, ranked by production costs per bushel. Producers with high corn production costs per bushel tended to have both lower than average yields and higher than average corn costs per acre. Corn producers in the Heartland and Prairie Gateway had lower corn production costs per bushel than corn producers in the Northern Crescent and Southeast. Part-time farmers and farmers with small corn acreage tended to have high corn production costs per bushel.

Keywords: corn, costs variation, corn production practices, farm characteristics

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