Manitoba Agriculture has released its 2025 cost of production analysis for crops and the picture isn’t rosy.
All 16 crops in the Manitoba analysis show a return over operating costs, but only pinto beans show a return over total costs. That return is small and pinto beans are a minor acreage crop with only 111,000 acres in 2024.
Second place for 2025 profitability (smallest loss) goes to corn with oats in third place followed by canola, soybeans and hard red spring wheat. Average Manitoba yields are assumed with corn 140 bushels per acre, oats 120, canola at 45, soybeans at 40 and wheat at 65.
Target prices have corn at $5.75 a bushel, oats at $4.10, canola at $13.25, soybeans at $12.00 and hard red spring wheat at $8.00.
Operating costs for 2025 are down marginally from last year, but crop prices have dropped even more.
The big variation from one farm to another comes in fixed costs for land and machinery. The Manitoba analysis makes an assumption about land and machinery owned versus financed.
The total equipment investment for conventional crops is assumed to be $650 per acre. The average land value is assumed to be $4,500 per acre.
Manitoba land costs come to nearly $104 an acre with machinery costs close to $87 an acre. For producers with minimal debt and who aren’t renting a lot of land, fixed costs will be much lower. This can make the difference between profit and loss.
Saskatchewan Agriculture’s 2025 Crop Planning Guide should be released shortly. While the analysis by the agriculture departments is a good starting point, it’s even more instructive to use this as a template to insert your own numbers and assumptions.
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