2 playbooks
Staked tomato
Vine Ripe Tomato Budget — 2025 · NC State Extension — Agricultural & Resource Economics
Yield / acre
42,000 lb
Budget price
$0.46 / lb
Operating cost / acre
$17,134
Revenue / acre
$19,320
Breakeven price
$0.41 / lb
Breakeven yield at budget price
37,248 lb/ac
Published fixed / ownership cost: $1,626/ac (on top of operating cost).
Field calendar
Plant family: Nightshade (tomato, pepper, eggplant, potato)
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
plant
May
Jun
Jul
harvest
Aug
harvest
Sep
harvest
Oct
Nov
Dec
Cost by stage
Pre-plant (ground prep, plastic, transplants)$1,722/ac
In-season (fertility, protection, water, labor)$4,620/ac
Harvest (picking, hauling, packing)$7,288/ac
Marketing (containers, selling, fees)$2,520/ac
Interest and insurance$984/ac
Cost by category
- Labor$8,537/ac
- Other inputs$4,601/ac
- Crop protection$3,167/ac
- Fertilizer$748/ac
- Fuel and machinery$75/ac
- Seed and transplants$6/ac
Every cost line as published
| Line | Stage | $ / acre |
|---|---|---|
| Seed | Pre-plant (ground prep, plastic, transplants) | $6.03 |
| Fertilizer and lime (6-3-18, 13-0-44, CN-9, lime) | In-season (fertility, protection, water, labor) | $747.80 |
| Fumigant | Pre-plant (ground prep, plastic, transplants) | $660.00 |
| Herbicide | In-season (fertility, protection, water, labor) | $180.05 |
| Insecticide | In-season (fertility, protection, water, labor) | $1,426.12 |
| Fungicide | In-season (fertility, protection, water, labor) | $901.05 |
| Plastic mulch | Pre-plant (ground prep, plastic, transplants) | $528.00 |
| Drip tape | Pre-plant (ground prep, plastic, transplants) | $165.00 |
| Stakes | Pre-plant (ground prep, plastic, transplants) | $363.00 |
| String and twine | In-season (fertility, protection, water, labor) | $11.80 |
| Tractor and machinery | In-season (fertility, protection, water, labor) | $75.00 |
| Field labor (drip, planting, staking, stringing, spraying, pruning) | In-season (fertility, protection, water, labor) | $1,248.99 |
| Picking labor | Harvest (picking, hauling, packing) | $4,200.00 |
| Packing labor | Harvest (picking, hauling, packing) | $2,687.70 |
| Post-harvest cleanup labor | Harvest (picking, hauling, packing) | $400.00 |
| Boxes (25 lb) | Marketing (containers, selling, fees) | $2,520.00 |
| Crop and income insurance | Interest and insurance | $618.00 |
| Interest on operating capital | Interest and insurance | $366.30 |
| Other budget lines not itemized here (reconciles to the published total) | In-season (fertility, protection, water, labor) | $29.25 |
| Operating cost per acre | $17,134.09 |
Engineering/planning budget built from grower and industry-expert panels, dealer input quotes and university machinery cost coefficients. Not a random-sample farm survey.
Open the published budgetEvery 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. 13 budgets loaded across NC, GA and FL.