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General Farm Management & Strategy

Are Cover Crops Worth It? The Tradeoff Between Soil Health and Farm Profitability

Cover crops offer potential soil health benefits, but adoption decisions involve tradeoffs. Learn how scenario analysis can help farmers evaluate the impact of cover crops on profitability, risk, and long-term farm goals.

Phosphate, Supply Chains & the 2027 Fertilizer Shock

AgCast relaunches with Episode 1 featuring a deep dive into phosphate fertilizer, global supply chains, and what tightening input markets may mean for farm profitability and fertilizer decisions heading toward 2027.

Do You Know Your True Cost of Production? New Indiana Tool Can Help

When margins are tight, knowing your true cost of production can provide more confidence in farm management decisions. In this AgBrief, Chad Fiechter introduces the new Purdue Cost of Production Calculator — a free tool designed specifically for Indiana corn and soybean farmers.

Conventional and Organic Enterprise Net Returns

Higher prices don’t always guarantee higher profits. New Purdue research examines the tradeoffs between organic and conventional crop production, including yield differences, cost structures, and the factors driving farm-level profitability.

New Tool Helps Indiana Farmers Calculate True Cost of Production

When margins tighten, knowing your true cost per acre becomes a critical management tool. A new Indiana-specific calculator helps farmers estimate costs, determine breakeven prices, and evaluate how changes in yield and markets affect profitability.

Indiana Cost of Production Calculator

For most farmers, nailing down a precise cost of production per acre is a difficult task. Although broad ranges, informed guesses, and averages from several previous years are helpful, tight margin years emphasize the need for precise cost accounting. In response to the current margin environment, a team of Agricultural Economics graduate students, with the support of the Indiana Soybean Alliance and the Indiana Corn Marketing Council, developed an interactive tool and a support helpdesk to help Indiana farmers calculate their production costs. Built specifically for Indiana and grounded in region-specific benchmarks across six Indiana production regions (North, Northeast, West Central, Central, Southwest, Southeast), it gives farmers an accurate and locally relevant benchmark.

Cover Crop Net Returns and Soil Health Improvements

Cover crops offer measurable soil health benefits, but their financial impact varies depending on yield performance and input cost savings. This article uses scenario analysis to examine how producers can evaluate conservation practices alongside profitability and other farm goals.

Beyond the Headlines: May Ag Economy Barometer Insights & Implications

The May 2026 Ag Economy Barometer showed farmer sentiment weakened for the second consecutive month, but the headline only tells part of the story. Rising input costs, uncertainty about farm profitability, and concerns about the broader economic environment continue to weigh on producer outlooks. In this extended discussion, Michael Langemeier and Joana Colussi share what the survey results may mean for farm profitability, investment decisions, farmland values, labor challenges and producer views on AI (artificial intelligence) in agriculture, and the direction of the U.S. economy.

Input Costs Remain Farmers’ Top Concern | May 2026 Ag Economy Barometer

Farmer sentiment slipped again in the latest Purdue University–CME Group Ag Economy Barometer, with producers continuing to point to one dominant issue shaping their outlook. High input costs remain the #1 concern—and they’re influencing everything from investment decisions to expectations for 2026.

Farmer Sentiment Slips Again as High Input Costs Remain Top Concern

Farmer sentiment dropped again in May as the Purdue University-CME Group Ag Economy Barometer declined from 121 points in April to 119. The Current Conditions Index fell by 8 points, while the Future Expectations Index increased by 1 point. The percentage of respondents who listed high input costs as their biggest concern was 51% in May, reaching a new high.

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General Farm Management & Strategy

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