Southern Cape – dryland

Income and cost budgets for wheat, barley, canola, oats and lupins for Southern Cape (Caledon region)

Area		Southern Cape: Caledon
Crop		Wheat	Barley	Canola	Oats	Lupins
Production system		Dryland
1. Income
Yield: deterministic	Ton/ha	3.40	3.40	2.10	2.60	1.75
SAFEX simulated / derived price: 2025	R/ton	6 327	6 327	7 637	6 327	5 440
Total deductions	R/ton	1 090	1 119	29	924	194
– Transport differential	R/ton	800	800	–	800	94
– Grade differential	R/ton	168	286	–	–	–
– Marketing, handling and statutory levies	R/ton	123	33	29	124	100
Price premiums / Canola back-payment	R/ton	–	74	764	–	–
Net farm gate price	R/ton	5 237	5 387	8 371	5 403	5 246
Gross income	R/ha	R17 806	R18 316	R17 580	R14 049	R9 180
2. Variable expenditures
Contracting	R/ha	–	–	–	–	–
Crop insurance	R/ha	51	53	50	40	–
Fertilizer	R/ha	3 319	3 355	3 242	2 748	1 269
Lime	R/ha	262	262	262	220	220
Seed	R/ha	825	779	1 685	1 185	1 177
Fuel	R/ha	763	784	754	742	676
Herbicide	R/ha	1 682	1 369	1 054	810	883
Insecticide	R/ha	258	186	625	136	165
Fungicides	R/ha	699	1 172	685	508	575
Marketing costs	R/ha	123	112	22	–	–
Repairs and maintenance	R/ha	891	865	891	789	489
Casual labour	R/ha	18	24	22	15	7
Aerial spray	R/ha	–	–	–	–	–
Other expenditure	R/ha	190	196	184	155	155
Total variable expenditure	R/ha	R9 081	R9 156	R9 477	R7 347	R5 614
Total variable expenditure	R/ton	R2 671	R2 693	R4 513	R2 826	R3 208
3.1 Gross margin	R/ha	R8 725	R9 160	R8 103	R6 702	R3 566
3.2 Gross margin	R/ton	R2 566	R2 694	R3 858	R2 578	R2 038
Break-even yield	T/ha	1.73	1.70	1.13	1.36	1.07
Break-even price	R/ton	R2 671	R2 693	R4 513	R2 826	R3 208

Source: Overberg Agri, GSA and BFAP, updated April 2025.

Gross margin per hectare: Southern Cape – Overberg, Caledon

Please refer to Methodology, Approach and Definitions for in-depth interpretation of enterprise budgets.
The canola back-payment assumes 10% of contracted price.
The cost items reflect the input allocation based on the target yield for the respective crops.
Although some expenditure items are zero, it is reflected in the budgets to allow for individual inclusion.
The cost of fuel includes pre-harvest and harvesting costs with the assumption that own machinery is used.
The costs for wheat, barley and oats seeds reflect a combination of own and purchased seed.
It is important to note that overhead costs are not included and should be accounted for. Overhead costs such as interest on production loans, labour, management and administration will vary to a large extent from producer to producer. Producers will therefore have to deduct the farm business' overhead cost from the gross margins as stipulated in the tables and figures to calculate the net income per crop.