DataPoint: Charting Machinery Costs on Illinois Farms

This week’s DataPoint is brought to you by the Precision Farming Dealer Summit, Jan. 6-7 in Louisville, Ky. Visit PrecisionSummit.com to learn more and to register. 

According to data from the University of Illinois Department of Agriculture and Consumer Economics, Machinery costs on corn acres have increased over time, from $44 per acre in 2003 to $162 per acre in 2023. The rate of increase in machinery costs follows returns. Costs increased more rapidly during the high return period from the mid-2000s through 2014 and the more recent high return years from 2020 to 2022.  Machinery costs have also increased in terms of their share of total land costs. Machinery costs averaged 17.7% of total non-land costs from 2003 to 2013.  This share increased to 20.2% from 2014 to 2023.

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