Farm Expenses Rise 5.1% in 2004

WASHINGTON - Jul 15/05 - SNS -- The cost of farming juimped 5.1% in the United States in 2004, with total expenditures reaching $210.7 billion, up from the revised 2003 total of $200.5 billion, according to the USDA.

The largest contributors to the increase were tractors and self-propelled farm machinery up 24.3%; fuels, up 19.4%; fertilizer, up 14.0%; feed, up 9.1% and labor up, 5.5%. Farm services and interest were the only expenditure categories to show a decrease being down 2.2 and 4.3%, respectively.

The rent expenditure was unchanged from the previous year. The largest two expenditure categories were feed, which accounted for 14.2% of the U.S. total production expenses and farm services which accounted for 12.5% of the U.S. total production expenses. The farm services category includes expense items such as custom work, utilities, marketing charges, veterinary services, transportation costs, and miscellaneous business expenses.

The average expenditures per U.S. farm in 2004 were $99,983 compared to $94,542 as revised for 2003. On the average, U.S. farm operations in 2004 spent $14,236 on feed; $12,480 on farm services; $10,914 on labor; $9,016 on livestock and poultry purchases; and $7,782 on rent. Revised estimates for 2003 indicated U.S. farms spent an average of $12,967 on feed; $12,684 on farm services; $10,279 on labor; $8,723 on livestock and poultry purchases; and $7,733 on rent.

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