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 Seedless watermelon 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 $8,636.38/acre.

Line items per acre
Fertilizer$203
Nitrogen
Phosphorous
Potassium
Lime and amendments$73
Lime (prorated over 3 years)
Sulfur
Seed and transplants$1,994
Seedless Watermelon Seed
Pollenizer Watermelon Seed
Transplant Production
Crop protection$347
Herbicide - Sandea
Herbicide-Dual Magnum
Insecticide - Admire
Fungicide - Bravo
Insecticide-Agri-Mek
Fungicide-Manzate
Fungicide-Zampro
Insecticide - Portal
Water and pumping$311
Fixed Irrigation Costs · fixed
Irrigation Operating Costs · fixed
Labor$3,100
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$953
Plastic Mulch
Bee Rental
Interest on Variable Costs
Land and overhead$600
Land Charge · fixed
Your totals
Variable cost / acre$6,996
Fixed cost / acre$1,130
Total cost / acre$8,126
Total for 1 acre$8,126

Sales / acre$10,200
Left after costs / acre$2,074
Breakeven price$0.10 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: Seedless watermelon 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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