Changing Proportional Distributions of Total Soybean Expenses Over Time Within a State Research Verification Program

The Arkansas Soybean Research Verification Program (AR SRVP) has provided demonstrations of optimal management responses in soybean production for 30 years. This period has seen the adoption of early soybean production systems and increasingly widespread use of various irrigation approaches. Cooperating producers across the state have worked with county agents and state extension specialists to produce crops under top management conditions and refine extension recommendations. Individual field and cooperator agronomic and economic results have been published to benefit producers across the state and beyond. While considerable attention has been given to total costs of production, limited study has been made into the changes in distribution of these costs among expense categories. This study examines changes in magnitude of expenses and percentage distributions among major expense categories. Irrigated, early season soybean production system records are examined for a ten year period to identify expense changes that have been experienced. The distribution of expenses by commonly used categories is then calculated and compared to national results from periodic USDA/NASS surveys. A better understanding of the distributional changes in expenses borne by soybean producers can have benefits in crop enterprise decision making and facilitate financing procedures for both producers and land owners.