What is the value of 20 acres of field corn?

Question

I am thinking about leasing 20 acres of tillable land to grow a crop of field corn (not sweet corn, but field corn for consumption by livestock or use in ethanol production). My farm is in North East Ohio. I haven't factored in how much of the crop will be lost. I'm just curious if there are any people with expertise in agriculture who can help.

Answer 1

If you want to grow field corn for ethanol,  you better grow more than 20 acres, unless you have antique equiptment that you want to farm with as a hobby.  There will be very little money in it otherwise.

Answer 2

my boss in NW PA (howdy neighbor) - keep in mind what it will cost to plant the corn - seed, fetilizer, gas, nitrite, etc  to plant the corn - are you going to need to dry it down - hire someone to harvest,transportation cost to the mill,  the cost really adds up -- soybeans on the other hand is half the cost than corn

either crop make sure you have a "home" for it -- is there even a ethonal plant in the area?

Answer 3

very much depends on where in the U.S. its located.  Down south corn fields produce 80 to 150 bushels/acre.  Up north they can average 250 to even over 500 bushels.  Also what time of the year the corn is sold and the price of corn at that time. Lots of variables to consider.  How well the fertile the land is. How deep the roots can penetrate, how much water it has received throughout the growing season, and what time of the growing season it caught the rain. disease hitting the field causing more input cost. The demand for corn is up and down.  So good luck figuring out your net.  gross is not as hard but thats not what you live off of

Answer 4

the price for corn or any other crop is dependent on market predictions for the year,  if it is crappy year the price goes up, so does the risks

Answer 5

If you're looking for a rental rate, go to your FSA-NRCS office and ask about the CRP rental rate, that's a good figure to start with.  

No offense intended, but 20 acres is more something to play with than make a living off of (you'd starve to death).  If you already have old equipment, that's not so bad but if you have to lease or buy equipment or hire someone to put it in, you'er already sunk.  Having it custom harvested is different though.  Getting the crop out in a hurry before weather related losses occur is worth it.  Around here, $22 an acre is average plus 4 cents per bushel to haul it.  Keep in mind that if you plan on selling straight out of the field or storing it, high moisture levels are going to result in a dock in price or having to dry the stuff down so it'll keep.

Answer 6

I'm going to give you some very rough estimates. The average cost of putting in a corn crop is around $440 per acre. That includes the land costs, but I'm guessing that your trying to lease 20 acres today  your land costs will be higher than average. Giving you a pretty good yield of 150 bu/ac and a pretty high price of $4.00 you might make around $160 profit per acre.  That would give you $3200 profit for 20 acres.  Now, that is if you are a good farmer. Also machinery costs are probably going to be higher than average for you if you have to rent or hire it done, so that will also cut into those profits. The price of corn is at an all time high, which is good, but costs of everything else is going to be higher as well, so don't think that you are going to get rich on this venture.

Answer 7

My farm accross lake Erie has a typical yield between 180-220 bu acre. although we don't use those units here. The 20 acres that is often used for corn is far too little to consider owning machinery to plant spray and harvest corn or any low value crop.

One might make a profit on 20 acres growing a very high margin crop like walnut, or hemp (mostly for seed but also fo linen).

In saying that I realize the likely period of profitability is short. There is high demand and limited supply for both, but that will correct quickly.

Low value commodities like corn can be profitable if you are among the most efficient 5% of corn growers, big scale.