Mac Young, Levi Russell, Rob Hogan, Steve Amosson, and DeDe Jones, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Department of Agricultural Economics:   

The Profitability-Irrigation Analyzer, an Excel-based, decision aid tool is available for crop producers in the Texas High Plains and South Texas. The decision tool assists producers in making management decisions by allowing them to analyze the optimal crop mix to plant under both irrigation and non-irrigation. Many producers in the Northern and Southern High Plains of Texas have been introduced to the tool and have found it useful in determining planting decisions, especially in limited water availability. This project was funded and supported by the Texas Corn Producers Board (TCPB) and the Texas Cotton State Support Committee. The Profitability-Irrigation Analyzer is available from Steve Amosson or DeDe Jones at Amarillo. See contact information below.

Recognizing a need for crop producers in other areas of the state, the TCPB asked Dr. Levi Russell and Mac Young in Corpus Christi to adapt the original High Plains model to South Texas. Based on the diversity of crop production in the southern part of Texas, three regional tools were designed—Lower Rio Grande Valley, Uvalde-Winter Garden and the Coastal Bend—and have been labeled “Crop Analyzer Tools” for each region. http://agrilife.org/coastalbend/program-areas/agricultural-economics-for-the-texas-coastal-bend/budgets-and-tools/crop-analyzer-project/

Each tool includes budget templates for irrigated and non-irrigated corn, grain sorghum, cotton, wheat, and sesame produced in the respective regions. Non-specified irrigated and non-irrigated budgets labeled “other crop” are also available for developing other budgets. Each budget template has detailed line items for income, variable costs and fixed costs to allow flexibility for the farmer to develop specific crop budgets to fit their individual operation and needs. Producers input their own prices, yields, production/overhead costs, and rental (cash or crop-share) arrangement information. The tool allows a farmer to change these input variables and essentially do “what-if” analysis to better determine what crop mix might generate the best returns.

The decision aides are especially useful to irrigated producers make planting decisions with regard to available water and land. This tool may also be beneficial in evaluating lease agreements.

To assist the analysis and decision process, a Break-Even Comparison section or tab provides the producer a comparison of break-even prices to cover variable and total cost under various yield scenarios. A Comparative Return tab provides a reference and comparison of costs and returns for all selected crops. The Crop Analysis section offers the opportunity to evaluate what crop mix is optimal based on available water, water requirements by crop, unit acreage, and return over variable costs. The optimal combination among all crops, irrigated and non-irrigated, is highlighted.

For the Texas High Plains decision aid, contact Steve Amosson (806-677-5600; s-mosson@tamu.edu) or DeDe Jones (806-677-5667; dd-jones@tamu.edu). The three South Texas decision tools are available by downloading using the link below. Or, contacting Levi Russell (lrussell@tamu.edu) or Mac Young (amyoung@ag.tamu.edu) at 361.265.9203. Producers in the Uvalde-Winter Garden can also contact Rob Hogan (830-278-9151; rhogan@ag.tamu.edu).
http://agrilife.org/coastalbend/program-areas/agricultural-economics-for-the-texas-coastal-bend/budgets-and-tools/crop-analyzer-project/