Agricultural Budget Calculator
The free Agricultural Budget Calculator (ABC) program is designed to assist agricultural producers in determining their cost of production and projected cash and economic returns for their various farm or ranch enterprises. It is developed by the Center for Agricultural Profitability in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Department of Agricultural Economics.
Register to Use ABC User Training Sessions Recorded Tutorial Videos UNL Crop Budgets ABC FAQ
Watch a recorded webinar on cost of production, with a demonstration of creating enterprise budgets using the ABC program: click here.
Related articles and webinar recordings:
Figuring Field Operation Costs Using the Agricultural Budget Calculator Program
Management Decisions Made Easier Using the Ag Budget Calculator
How It Works
When using ABC, an enterprise can be defined by the user based on what makes sense and fits their operation. Crops may be entered individually or entered field by field, and/or by dryland or irrigated enterprise acres. To break down cost of production information even further, individual field operations and data can be entered. This could be one way to analyze cost and returns field by field for a specified crop. Then, all separate enterprise budgets (field by field or dryland and irrigated) completed for a particular crop, such as corn, will be added together so the user will have a projected cost of production and estimated returns for their total corn production for the production year. This would be similar for soybeans, wheat, or any crop enterprise that producers enter information for into the program. The ability to add livestock enterprise data into ABC will be forthcoming.
The ABC program link is: agbudget.unl.edu.
To create your own enterprise budgeting account, enter your email address and create a password that you can remember. Budgets that you create now and into the future will be saved in your account. There are help messages throughout the program using the question mark icon. Click on the icon to show or close the help messages.
We’re interested in user feedback, so please stay in touch as you have questions and comments about the ABC program by email gmcclure3@unl.edu.
Agricultural Budget Calculator program funding sources include: The Nebraska Soybean Board, The North Central Extension Risk Management Education Center, USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture under Award Numbers 1018-70027-28586 and 2021-70027-34694, and the Nebraska Corn Board.
Agricultural Budget Calculator Overview Video
Glennis McClure, extension educator and farm and ranch management analyst, provides an overview of ABC's interface and functionality.
More Information
Crop Budgets
Nebraska Crop Budgets are now available within the Ag Budget Calculator program to download into your ABC program account. After one or more budgets are downloaded, they can be customized to reflect your own enterprises. Field operations, yearly rates and prices, and the materials and services input section can all be changed within the ABC program. With ABC enterprise budgets, revenue projections can be entered to evaluate net returns above costs for the upcoming crop year.
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln's Department of Agricultural Economics and Center for Ag Profitability invites ag producers and farm managers to view, download, and modify using the new Agricultural Budget Calculator (ABC) program. With ABC current crop budgets can be created and customized by field or farm, saved, updated, and used again for future production years. The new program allows producers to estimate their cost of production based on field operations expenses, machinery, labor, and material inputs. In addition, revenue projections are included to assist users in determining projected net returns above costs.
The University of Nebraska annual crop budgets are available in the system to draw information from, with individual UNL crop budgets available for download and use in the system. A risk module has been added along with breakeven price and yield analysis reports. The whole farm tab in ABC is ready now where individual enterprise budgets can be summarized with overhead expense allocations and reconciliations can be made. The cash flow feature in ABC is available. This monthly cash flow template will provide usage figures for revenue and expense items that were entered for each enterprise for the month indicated in field operations with overhead and general expenses shown in total and spread over the year. All amounts in the cash flow can be moved to the month when you anticipate actually receiving or paying cash.
The University's crop budgets, historically created in Excel, have always been intended as guides for producers to follow along with and to understand the cost factors that make up cash and economic cost of production. Now, technology allows users to enter their data online and produce enterprise budgets and analysis reports using this new system. Learning to use a program like the new Ag Budget Calculator, will assist you in customizing your farm and ranch enterprise budgets and to make decisions using this information.
Questions?
Contact Glennis McClure
Associate Extension Educator,
Farm & Ranch Management Analyst
Upcoming Events
The ABC program and materials are based upon work supported by USDA/NIFA under Award Number 2018-70027-28586, 2021-70027-34694 and 2023-70027-40444.