If you asked your customers their equipment cost per acre, would they have an answer for you? Some might have a general idea of what their principal and interest payments are annually and could arrive at a per acre cost. But would that include key factors like depreciation, inflation and appreciation in equipment costs over the lifetime of the equipment fleet? Most likely, no.

“If I believed everything the dealer, salesman and retail companies told me I’d be raising 800-bushel corn!” I’ve heard similar statements across the U.S. and Canada with different crops, products and value-added sales pitches.