Projected Production Costs for Eastern South Dakota Crops: 1980-1990

The crop producer in South Dakota faces risk and uncertainty from many directions. Commodity prices and input costs are volatile, weather conditions change continuously and macroeconomic forces acting on inflation and interest rates leave the farmer not knowing which way to turn. This high risk is accentuated by high investment requirements for land and machinery and high cash flow obligations. Annual or short-run decisions of what crop(s) and how much of each crop to plant are imperfect because of risk factors. Long-run decisions concerning equipment investment and land expansion are even more risky because of the longer planning horizon of several years associated with such purchases. This publication is intended to give crop farmers in eastern South Dakota some information on future crop budget costs. These projections are intended to aid producers in making short and long-run production and investment decisions for their farms