Agricultural Economics, Department of
Cornhusker Economics
2026 Nebraska Crop Budgets: Summary and Key Insights
Date of this Version
1-28-2026
Document Type
Newsletter Issue
Citation
Cornhusker Economics, January 28, 2026
Agricultural Economics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Abstract
The 2026 Nebraska crop budgets include 84 enterprise budgets, with the addition of a new cover crop budget. As producers and farm managers plan for the upcoming production year, these budgets provide a current, research-based view of projected costs, input assumptions, and expected production economics. As with all forward-looking budget estimates, results depend on assumptions that may change as market conditions evolve.
The 2026 budgets reflect both current market conditions and long-term structural cost trends that producers have faced since 2020. Key changes include increased nutrient costs across most crops; slightly higher pesticide application levels due to greater weed and disease pressure, along with some related product price increases; slightly lower anticipated diesel and gasoline prices; and updated machinery, power unit, implement, and irrigation equipment costs that contribute to higher overall cost-of-production estimates. Because input prices continue to fluctuate significantly due to supply chain conditions and regional market differences, the statewide budgets serve as a baseline rather than a prediction for any single operation.