Crop Profitability Calculator Available

Research funded by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture led to the development of an on-line calculator that will help farmers determine the profitability of various food crops. Recently completed work studied the costs and decision-making processes of independent restaurateurs, local food producers, and restaurant patrons. Increased understanding of these attitudes may help expand the availability of locally grown foods in Iowa restaurants. The free Produce Profitability Calculator, helps producers create scenarios to help make decisions about what and how much to plant as well as sales decisions such as how, where, when and setting a price. The tool was developed as part of a Leopold Center competitive grant to the Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management (HRIM) program at ISU. A user's manual (PDF/515 KB) for the calculator is also available.