How to Calculate Your Break-Even Price Per Bushel (Step-by-Step)

Every grain marketing decision starts with one number: your break-even price per bushel. It's the minimum price you need to cover all your costs. Without it, you're guessing. With it, you can set price targets, evaluate contracts, and know exactly when a sale is profitable. Here's how to calculate it the right way.

The Break-Even Formula

The concept is simple:

The challenge isn't the math — it's making sure you include every cost. Most farmers who underestimate their break-even are forgetting overhead items like machinery depreciation, interest on operating loans, or their own labor.

Step 1: Add Up Direct Input Costs

These are the costs directly tied to growing the crop. They change based on what you plant and how you manage it.

Seed

Your per-acre seed cost including seed treatments. For 2026, typical ranges:

• Corn: $110–$150/acre (depending on population and traited vs. conventional)
• Soybeans: $55–$85/acre

Fertilizer

This is often the biggest variable — and in 2026, it's even bigger thanks to the Iran-related fertilizer price spike. Include all forms:

• Nitrogen (anhydrous ammonia, UAN, urea)
• Phosphorus (MAP, DAP)
• Potassium (potash)
• Micronutrients (sulfur, zinc, etc.)

Typical 2026 corn fertilizer cost: $175–$230/acre. Soybeans: $40–$60/acre (no nitrogen needed).

Chemicals

Herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and application costs. Include custom application fees if you hire it out.

• Corn: $45–$70/acre
• Soybeans: $40–$65/acre

Crop Insurance

Your net premium after subsidies for Revenue Protection (RP), plus any ECO or SCO endorsements.

• Typical range: $25–$60/acre depending on coverage level and county

Drying and Handling

Relevant mainly for corn. If you deliver wet corn to the elevator, the drying charge comes out of your settlement. If you dry on-farm, include propane, electricity, and equipment costs.

• Corn: $15–$40/acre (depends on moisture at harvest)
• Soybeans: Usually minimal — $0–$10/acre

Step 2: Add Overhead Costs

These are the costs you pay regardless of what you plant. They're easy to overlook but make a huge difference in your break-even.

Land Cost

This is usually your single largest expense. Use:

• Cash rent: What you actually pay per acre ($200–$400+ in the Corn Belt)
• Owned land: Use the opportunity cost — what you could rent it for, or your mortgage payment per acre

Machinery

Include depreciation, fuel, repairs, and maintenance. ISU estimates machinery costs at $100–$140/acre for a typical corn/soybean rotation.

Labor

Include hired labor and a reasonable charge for your own time. Many farmers skip this — don't. Your time has value.

Interest on Operating Loans

If you borrow to finance inputs, include the interest cost. At current rates, this can be $15–$30/acre.

Miscellaneous Overhead

Farm insurance, accounting, technology subscriptions, building maintenance, etc. Usually $10–$30/acre.

Step 3: Divide by Projected Yield

This is where the number gets real. Use a realistic yield estimate — not your best year, not your worst year, but your 5-year average or your APH (Actual Production History) from crop insurance.

Be honest with yourself here. Using 220 bu/ac corn when your APH is 195 will make your break-even look artificially low and lead to bad marketing decisions.

Step 4: Add Delivery Costs

Your final break-even should reflect what you need to net after delivery. Add your trucking cost per bushel — typically $0.05–$0.20/bu depending on distance to the elevator.

If you're comparing against futures prices rather than cash bids, you also need to account for basis (the difference between futures and your local cash price).

Full Example: Iowa Corn Farm

Let's walk through a real calculation for a 2026 corn farm in north-central Iowa:

Now divide by yield and add trucking:

• At 200 bu/ac: $926 ÷ 200 = $4.63 + $0.10 trucking = $4.73/bu break-even
• At 180 bu/ac: $926 ÷ 180 = $5.14 + $0.10 = $5.24/bu break-even
• At 220 bu/ac: $926 ÷ 220 = $4.21 + $0.10 = $4.31/bu break-even

That 40 bu/ac swing between a bad year and a good year changes your break-even by almost a dollar. This is why running multiple scenarios matters.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Forgetting land costs. Cash rent is often 25–35% of total cost. Skip it and your break-even is way off.
2. Using state averages instead of your numbers. Your farm is not average. Your break-even should reflect your actual costs and yields.
3. Ignoring machinery depreciation. Just because you own the combine doesn't mean it's free. It depreciates, it breaks, and it burns fuel.
4. Using your best-ever yield. Be realistic. Use your 5-year average or APH.
5. Not updating during the season. If fertilizer prices spike (like they did in March 2026) or you add an extra fungicide pass, your break-even changes. Recalculate.

Using Break-Even for Grain Marketing

Once you know your break-even, you can build a marketing plan around it:

Set profit-tier price targets

• Tier 1 (break-even + $0.25): Start selling 10–15% of expected production
• Tier 2 (break-even + $0.50): Sell another 15–20%
• Tier 3 (break-even + $0.75+): Aggressive selling if the market gives you the opportunity

Evaluate contracts against your number

When your elevator offers $4.80 corn for December delivery, you can instantly evaluate it: is that above or below your break-even? If your break-even is $4.73, that's a $0.07/bu profit — which might be worth taking on some bushels. If your break-even is $5.24 (drought scenario), it's a $0.44 loss — pass and wait.

Compare crop profitability

Calculate break-even for both corn and soybeans, then compare against current futures. In 2026, many farmers found that soybeans — despite lower revenue per acre — had a better margin relative to break-even than corn. That's why nearly 5 million acres are shifting to beans this year.

Break-Even at Different Yields

Here's a quick reference table showing how break-even changes with yield, assuming $926/acre total cost for corn and $679/acre for soybeans (based on ISU 2026 estimates):