Profit per acre calculator

This tool puts two real numbers side by side: what a university budget says an acre of a crop costs in your state, and what USDA says an acre of vegetables actually sells for in your state. The difference is the profit an acre has to beat. Change either number to match your farm.

Cost: Vine Ripe Tomato Budget — 2025 — NC State Extension — Agricultural & Resource Economics, 2025. Open the source. In today's prices, about $18,760–$19,547/acre (USDA farm-input price index, 2025 average to August 2026; farm wages brought up separately with USDA's farm wage rates).

Sales: 42,000 lb an acre at $0.46 = $19,320/acre, the yield and price printed in the NC State Extension — Agricultural & Resource Economics 2025 budget. Source.

Profit per acre
Sales per acre$19,320
Cost per acre$18,760
Profit per acre$560
Profit margin2.9%
Profit on 1 acre$560
North Carolina grants and cost-share

These are real North Carolina programs, but award sizes depend on your application, so we don't guess them. If you've been awarded money or expect to be, enter it per acre here to see its effect. Leave blank to skip.

NC Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund grants
NC Agriculture Cost Share Program through county soil and water districts
Specialty Crop Block Grant (NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services)
USDA NRCS EQIP cost-share (county USDA service center)
Grant and cost-share per acre$0
Profit per acre with support$560
With support on 1 acre$560

Grants are often one-time and taxable. Confirm terms with the agency before counting on them. See grant deadlines.

Every NC budget against the same sales figure
Staked tomato (2025)cost $18,760 → profit $560/acre
Sweetpotato (2025)cost $3,165 → profit $16,155/acre

One sales figure against different crops is a rough comparison — each crop really has its own price and yield. Use it to see which budgets leave the most room, then open the full calculator for the crop you are serious about.

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.

Want line-by-line costs? Open the cost per acre calculator. Comparing several crops? Use the crop profitability planner.

Pooled farmer benchmark: Staked tomato in North Carolina

Built from real yield records of North Carolina 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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Farm in North Carolina? Add your records to these benchmarks in Settings → Privacy → Data sharing. It's off unless you turn it on.