Cost per acre calculator

Pick your state and crop to start from a published university budget, line by line. Change any number to match your own farm — your numbers replace theirs.

University of Delaware Pumpkin (on plastic) budget — 2026 — University of Delaware Cooperative Extension, 2026. Open the source. 2026 Delaware budget. Variable total shown includes harvest and packing at the expected yield. Printed total $3,509.70/acre.

Line items per acre
Fertilizer$183
Nitrogen
Phosphorous
Potassium
Lime and amendments$73
Lime (prorated over 3 years)
Sulfur
Seed and transplants$203
Pumpkin Seed
Crop protection$192
Herbicide - Sandea
Herbicide-Dual Magnum
Fungicide - Bravo
Fungicide - Zampro
Insecticide - Assail
Insecticide - Warrior II
Water and pumping$311
Fixed Irrigation Costs · fixed
Irrigation Operating Costs · fixed
Labor$960
Planting Labor
Harvest Labor
Harvest and packing at expected yield
Fuel and machinery$545
Laying Mulch
Removing Mulch
Mulch Disposal
Applying Fertilizer Broadcast · fixed
Applying Chemicals Ground · fixed
Transplanter Operation · fixed
Hooded Sprayer · fixed
Tillage/Chisel · fixed
Disk & Harrowing · fixed
Mowing Vines · fixed
Lifting Mulch · fixed
Other inputs$893
Plastic Mulch
Bee Rental
Interest on Variable Costs
Land and overhead$150
Land Charge · fixed
Your totals
Variable cost / acre$2,829
Fixed cost / acre$680
Total cost / acre$3,510
Total for 1 acre$3,510

Sales / acre$4,000
Left after costs / acre$490
Breakeven price$0.18 per lb

Every figure is transcribed from a published land-grant enterprise budget for that state. These are planning budgets built from grower panels and dealer quotes, not surveys of what farms actually spent — your invoices override them everywhere they exist.

Planning several crops? Use the crop profitability planner. Want profit against your state's real sales figures? Open the profit per acre calculator.

Pooled farmer benchmark: Pumpkin (on plastic) in Delaware

Built from real yield records of Delaware farms that chose to share their data. A figure only appears once 5 or more farms have logged the same crop and season, so no single farm can be identified.

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