The average variable cash cost of producing a bushel of corn was $1.25 for producers surveyed in the 1991 Farm Costs and Returns Survey. Individual farm costs ranged from about $0.40 to more than $8 per bushel. Regional differences in production practices and growing conditions had the greatest influence on production costs. Corn growers in the North Central and Plains regions had a significant cost advantage over producers in the Northeast and Southeast. Dry weather reduced yield and resulted in abnormally high per-bushel costs in the Northeast. Nearly 70 percent of Northeast producers and more than half of Southeast producers were high-cost corn growers in 1991.
