Wheat Input costs per T 2019

[Clive]

I thought it might be interesting to compare inputs costs on Wheat this year ? we could look at otter crops like OSR as well if successful

I know this has been tried before on TFF and like any bench-marking consistency in how we compare numbers is vital to it making any sense. So if Outline my methodology in this first post maybe others can try the same and we can get some useful comparisons ?

So taking ALL variable costs per hectare on my wheat this year to include - Seed (plus royalty and cleaning if FS), Fertilizers (N P K FYM / composts etc) Herbicide, Insecticide, fungicides, growth regs, trace elements, desiccant, slug pellets

then divide by yield in tonnes per ha to get your input cost per tonne

ie. £400 spent on inputs / 8t/ha = £50/t for example


might be even more interesting if we wanted to break that down to a figure for each variety grown ? it could help us all pick the higher margin varieties

 

[essex man]

I thought it might be interesting to compare inputs costs on Wheat this year ? we could look at otter crops like OSR as well if successful

I know this has been tried before o TFF and like any bench-marking consistency in how we compare numbers is vital to it making any sense. So if Outline my methodology in this first post maybe others can try the same and we can get some useful comparisons ?

So taking ALL variable costs per hectare on my feed wheat this year to include - Seed (pus royalty and cleaning if FS), Fertilizers (N P K FYM / composts etc) Herbicide, Insecticide, fungicides, growth regs, trace elements, desiccant, slug pellets etc

then divide by yield in tonnes per ha to get your input cost per tonne

ie. £400 spent on inputs / 8t/ha = £50/t for example


might be even more interesting if we wanted to break that down to a figure for each variety grown ? it could help us all pick the higher margin varieties

only doing feed wheats and separate category for milling or strip out extra cost of securing premium from milling wheat costs?

 

[Clive]

only doing feed wheats and separate category for milling or strip out extra cost of securing premium from milling wheat costs?

Feed wheat or milling wheat should be defined in replies I guess - It would be interesting to see juts how much more per tonne we are spending growing the quality wheats over the feeds

 

[Properjob]

Do you think those of us that sell straw should add that back less costs, as makes a big difference on fert inputs?

 

[Clive]

Do you think those of us that sell straw should add that back less costs, as makes a big difference on fert inputs?

we are not looking at margin at all here as that gets impossible with different selling prices / how you value straw etc -

Variable cost per ha divided by grain yield per ha = VC cost per tonne

use the method in the first post, Simply variable costs what you physically wrote cheques for this growing season divided by yield and we might get some comparisons that are worthwhile to help us all compare ?

I'm just of to set up the OSR drill but will work mine out later today and post

 

[CORK]

Great idea, it’s always interesting to compare cost/output.

However, I do sometimes wonder if it’s better to compare margin per Ha (before land rental) than cost per tonne?

At a selling price of £150/tn surely it’s better to produce 4tn/acre at a cost £100/tn than 3tn/acre at a cost of £90/tn?

 

[CORK]

we are not looking at margin at all here as that gets impossible with different selling prices / how you value straw etc -

Variable cost per ha divided by grain yield per ha = VC cost per tonne

use the method in the first post, Simply variable costs what you physically wrote cheques for this growing season divided by yield and we might get some comparisons that are worthwhile to help us all compare ?

I'm just of to set up the OSR drill but will work mine out later today and post

Sorry, just saw this

 

[AndrewM]

About £63/t

 

[essex man]

Great idea, it’s always interesting to compare cost/output.

However, I do sometimes wonder if it’s better to compare margin per Ha (before land rental) than cost per tonne?

At a selling price of £150/tn surely it’s better to produce 4tn/acre at a cost £100/tn than 3tn/acre at a cost of £90/tn?

Agree, chasing cost per ton can result in making less money. Margin is more important but as has been said harder to compare.
Though why we want to compare something less relevant is not so clear.

 

[Mouser]

Agree, chasing cost per ton can result in making less money. Margin is more important but as has been said harder to compare.
Though why we want to compare something less relevant is not so clear.

So can you quote cost per ton for a given yield
Eg £63/t for a 4.5t/acre crop

 

[Cambridgeshire]

£53.60

 

[Properjob]

Agree, chasing cost per ton can result in making less money. Margin is more important but as has been said harder to compare.
Though why we want to compare something less relevant is not so clear.

Margin is more important. To me costs per ton are not relevant, too many variables depending on location and system. Heavy land farmers higher BG control costs, those in the SW big fungicide spend, costs per t only relevant when in the same geographical area/ soil type.

 

[juke]

wheats 47 at best 49 at the dearest . winter barley 37

 

[essex man]

Margin is more important. To me costs per ton are not relevant, too many variables depending on location and system. Heavy land farmers higher BG control costs, those in the SW big fungicide spend, costs per t only relevant when in the same geographical area/ soil type.

Agree, sorry my post not very clear.
Is margin that counts.
My costper ton £50 -60 for 12 tons per hectare of full spec zyatt sold at £160 min

 

[Clive]

OK just worked out mine. variable costs per tonne as defined in post 1 of this thread


Feed Wheat (broken down by variety)

KWS Lilli = £32/t
Shabras = £34/t
Graham = £33.50/t

Milling

KWS Montana = £49/t


So the Milling wheats are costing me about an extra £17/t to grow in VC's over the best feed - Montana is an e wheat that commands a £35-45/t high protein premium suggesting that its worthwhile as long as it does make quality. If it was juts a group 1 milling wheat I can't see the extra cost being worthwhile at all at £10-15 premiums offered

 

[Clive]

Agree, chasing cost per ton can result in making less money. Margin is more important but as has been said harder to compare.
Though why we want to compare something less relevant is not so clear.

Inputs cost per tonne is a great metric IMO - great way to highlight expensive varieties or expensive agronomy / poor buying etc which is something thats easy to take action upon

Looking at margin / t has a lot more to do with selling price / availability of storage / cash flow etc than what you spent

Production cost per tonne is the ultimate benchmark IMO and that has 2 components VC spend / t plus FC spend per T

We could look at a fixed cost per tonne thread separably but fixed costs seem a lot harder to consistently compare than simple VC spend and a lot more complex to change. This simple VC spend comparison gets us half way though and should produce / highlight some useful info

quite big variation in numbers already I note !

 

[ajd132]

Siskin £36/t
Costello £34/t
For VCs

Good yields this year. We do have higher herbicide costs due to blackgrass.

 

[lloyd]

If people are not prepared to show their proper workings
of how they get to the figures then it is pub talk mentality .

 

[Clive]

If people are not prepared to show their proper workings
of how they get to the figures then it is pub talk mentality .

whats the point in pub talk ? My first posts outlines how to work out the number, if we all use the same method then the results are consistent

If someone wants to know how a particular number was arrived at then they could simply ask I guess ? that's the idea of knowledge exchange, maybe through sharing we can all learn something form each other ?

 

[lloyd]

whats the point in pub talk ? My first posts outlines how to work out the number, if we all use the same method then the results are consistent

If someone wants to know how a particular number was arrived at then they could simply ask I guess ? that's the idea of knowledge exchange, maybe through sharing we can all learn something form each other ?

What are you putting grain drying under?Fixed or variable.
Alot of wheat was dried early on.
The point I'm making is I could say £25t just to look clever
and without showing my workings you'd be none the wiser.