Capital requirements and operating costs were analyzed using economic-engineering techniques to develop average cost curves for concrete upright type commercial rice dryers with storage capacities of approximately 100,000, 300,000 and 600,000 hundredweight. Capital requirements ranged from over three-quarters of a million dollars for the 100,000 hundredweight facility to over 2 million dollars for the 600,000 hundredweight plant. Taken in order of plant size, the operating costs--based on estimated receipts of 135 percent of net storage capacity--were $1.02, $0.60, and $0.49 per hundredweight. The 100,000 hundredweight plant could not cover costs even at a receipt level equivalent to 1.8 times its net storage capacity. Break-even volumes for the 300,000, and 600,000 hundredweight facilities were approximately 1.5 and 1.2 times net storage capacity, respectively.