Independent analysis of estimated on-farm ryegrass seed crop growing costs in Canterbury for the 2026/27 season shows a median cost of production to be $3.73 per kilo for growing costs and farm overheads plus business costs.
Ryegrass seed growers in Canterbury have asked for better information on the full costs of producing this crop. The Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) and Federated Farmers contracted Macfarlane Rural Business (MRB) to independently survey farms and estimate the costs of production for ryegrass seed crops in Canterbury for the 2026/27 season (to be harvested 2027). The purpose of the analysis is to help individual growers understand and benchmark their own costs.
MRB collected line-by-line growing costs from 19 working farms covering 356 ha of ryegrass crop and 737 t of seed. Of these farms sampled, 16 were irrigated and 3 were not. Growing costs are each grower's own budget for the 2026/27 crop, using current contractor rates and current fertiliser and diesel prices published on supplier websites. Overheads come from each farm's 2025/26 cashbook, and have been checked against Stats NZ's farm expenses price index and CPI to make sure they are reasonable.
Read the summary document along with an explanatory Question and Answer sheet here.