With planting gearing up comes an increase in fertilizer purchases and the USDA tracked just how much fertilizer takes up of corn production costs.
Historically, fertilizer has been the largest variable expense with producing corn. Even with costs varying from 2006 to 2021, the average cost of fertilizer was $125 per acre. Costs jumped to $225 per acre in 2022, representing an 89% increase. Then costs fell back down to $186 last year, marking a 17% drop.
Other input expenses in the report included fuel, seed and labor.
