{"id":3288,"date":"2024-01-18T14:04:50","date_gmt":"2024-01-18T20:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/agecon\/?p=3288"},"modified":"2024-01-18T14:26:11","modified_gmt":"2024-01-18T20:26:11","slug":"high-plains-ag-week-1-18-2024-input-costs-for-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/agecon\/high-plains-ag-week-1-18-2024-input-costs-for-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"High Plains Ag Week – 1\/18\/2024 – Input Costs for 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AngledHow will input costs change for crop enterprises on the Texas High Plains?\u00a0 Today, we look at three key inputs to crop production and discuss expectations for the price of these inputs this year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What We\u2019re Reading<\/h1>\n

Are interest rate hikes in the rearview mirror?<\/a> \u2013 Southwest Farm Press<\/p>\n

No new farm bill… now what?<\/a> – Southwest Farm Press<\/p>\n

Making the ARC\/PLC Election for 2024<\/a> \u2013 Southern Ag Today<\/p>\n

AgriLife Extension Budgets<\/h1>\n

A new year means updated crop and livestock budgets from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension.\u00a0 These budgets represent AgriLife Extension economists\u2019 best forecasts of input costs, commodity prices and fixed costs for a variety of crop and livestock enterprises during the coming year.\u00a0 Each AgriLife Extension district has its own set of budgets, with each budget representing what an \u201caverage\u201d farm in that district can expect in terms of costs and returns from a specific crop or livestock enterprise. \u00a0Once the new budgets are finalized, they will be published here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Changes in Key Input Costs<\/h1>\n

An important component within every extension budget is an estimate of input costs for the coming year.\u00a0 In total, input costs are highly variable from one commodity to the next, and between production methods for a given commodity; however, costs for specific inputs tend follow trends that hold across commodities and production methods.<\/p>\n

For the major crops grown on the Texas High Plains (corn, sorghum, wheat, and cotton), three major drivers of input costs are expenditures on fertilizer, energy, and chemicals.\u00a0 Due to the size of these expenditures \u2013 and their importance to production \u2013 producers need to consider how prices for these inputs might change as they make plans for the coming year.<\/p>\n

Fertilizer<\/h2>\n

Fertilizer prices increased rapidly in 2021 and 2022, reaching historically high levels around May 2022 (see Figure 1).\u00a0 Three things drove this rapid rise:<\/p>\n