FAR contracts Macfarlane Rural Business (MRB) to update the Cost of Production spreadsheet annually. There are two spreadsheets below. The first is based on forecast figures for the for the 2026-27 harvest and now includes mid-Canterbury irrigated winter OSR, sunflowers, and maize silage, along with Hawkes Bay unirrigated maize grain. The second is based on 2025/26 figures.
Forecast costs of production for 2026-27 (new crops added)
Download the forecast 2026-27 spreadsheet here.
The default input costs on this sheet reflect current (14 April 2026) and forecast increases for diesel, contractors, urea and other fertilisers, agrichemicals and irrigation. Costs for 10 of the 11 crops on this sheet are for a standard set of crops from a case study of a typical irrigated Mid-Canterbury arable farm with a mid- to high-input system, using contractor prices. One is for unirrigated maize grain in Hawkes Bay. These figures may not exactly reflect your particular farm system and can be edited to use actual inputs and costs, where known. This sheet includes April-sown feed wheat, May-sown milling wheat, spring barley, Nui ryegrass, Huia white clover, garden peas, open pollinated yellow flowered brassica seed crops, winter oilseed rape, sunflowers (all mid-Canterbury irrigated) and maize grain (Hawkes Bay unirrigated).
Updated costs of production based on 2025-26 harvest
Download the 2025-26 spreadsheet here.
Costs on this sheet are for a standard set of crops from a case study of a typical irrigated Mid-Canterbury arable farm with a mid- to high-input system, using contractor prices. As such, these figures may not exactly reflect your particular farm system. They provide historical trends and a tool for growers to include inputs and prices that are closer to their own situations and regional locations. It is important to note that these were the prices for the 2025-2026 growing season and not the current prices as at autumn 2026.