With Prices Like This, Who Needs to Know Cost of Production?

Authors

Tina N. Barrett, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

5-2012

Document Type

Article

Citation

Cornhusker Economics (May 2012)

Comments

Published by University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension, Institute of Agriculture & Natural Resources, Department of Agricultural Economics. Copyright © [2012] Board of Regents, University of Nebraska. http://agecon.unl.edu/cornhuskereconomics

Abstract

A few months ago I was talking with a producer and I mentioned that I worked with farmers on calculating cost of production, among other things. He posed the question of why do farmers really need to know their cost of production? Sure, five or six years ago when margins were tight cost of production was important in marketing their crop, but what’s the point with the increase in crop prices and wide margins?