WASHINGTON — Farm input costs continue to rise, according to a report by the National Agricultural Statistics Service.
The U.S. total farm production expenditures were $397.6 billion in 2014, up from $367.3 billion in 2013. The 2014 total expenditures are up 8.3 percent compared with 2013 total farm production expenditures.
Nearly all expenditure items increased from the previous year. The four largest expenditure categories at the United States level totaled $188.3 billion and accounted for 47.3 percent of total expenditures in 2014.
These were: feed, 16 percent, farm services, 11.4 percent, livestock, poultry and related expenses, 11.3 percent, and Labor, 8.6 percent.
More expenses
In 2014, the U.S. total farm expenditure average per farm was $191,500, compared with $175,270 in 2013, up 9.3 percent. On average, U.S. farm operations spent: $30,680 on feed, $21,818 on farm services, $21,722 on livestock, poultry and related expenses, and $16,472 on labor.
For 2013, U.S. farms spent an average of: $29,779 on feed, $18,612 on farm services, $16,321 on livestock, poultry, and related expenses, and $15,271 on labor.
The U.S. Economic Sales Class contributing most to the 2014 U.S. total expenditures was the $1,000,000-$4,999,999 class, with expenses of $135.1 billion, (34 percent of the United States total), up 2.3 percent from the 2013 level of $132 billion.
It was followed by the $5 million and over class, with $102 billion, up from $79 billion in 2013.
Largest region
The Midwest region, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin, contributed the most to United States Total Expenditures with expenses of $124 billion (31.2 percent), up from $118.4 billion in 2013. The other regions ranked by total expenditures were: Plains at $99.3 billion (25.0 percent), West at $85.6 billion (21.5 percent), Atlantic at $48.2 billion (12.1 percent), and South at $40.5 billion (10.2 percent).
The Plains increased $11.6 billion from 2013, which is the largest regional increase in dollars.
