Western Cape – dryland

Income and cost budgets for wheat, canola and lupins for Darling-vlakte – Hopefield (Sandveld region)

Area		Darling-vlakte – Hopefield (Sandveld region)
Crop		Wheat	Canola	Lupins
Production system		Dryland
1. Income
Yield: deterministic	Ton/ha	2.35	1.40	1.50
SAFEX simulated / derived price: 2025	R/ton	6 327	7 637	5 440
Total deductions	R/ton	1 078	29	129
– Transport differential	R/ton	800	–	94
– Grade differential	R/ton	168	–	–
– Marketing, handling and statutory levies	R/ton	110	29	35
Price premiums / Canola back-payment	R/ton	–	764	–
Net farm gate price	R/ton	5 249	8 371	5 311
Gross income	R/ha	R12 336	R11 720	R7 966
2. Variable expenditures
Contracting	R/ha	–	–	–
Crop insurance	R/ha	35	34	–
Fertilizer	R/ha	3 048	2 880	980
Lime	R/ha	184	184	262
Seed	R/ha	790	1 685	706
Fuel	R/ha	729	518	525
Herbicide	R/ha	1 467	816	922
Insecticide	R/ha	169	413	148
Fungicides	R/ha	537	445	556
Marketing costs	R/ha	53	17	–
Repairs and maintenance	R/ha	832	732	577
Casual labour	R/ha	17	21	7
Aerial spray	R/ha	–	–	–
Other expenditure	R/ha	44	44	44
Total variable expenditure	R/ha	R7 906	R7 788	R4 727
Total variable expenditure	R/ton	R3 364	R5 563	R3 151
3.1 Gross margin	R/ha	R4 430	R3 932	R3 239
3.2 Gross margin	R/ton	R1 885	R2 808	R2 159
Break-even yield	T/ha	1.51	0.93	0.89
Break-even price	R/ton	R3 364	R5 563	R3 151

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

Gross margin per hectare: Western Cape – Darling-vlakte – Hopefield

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.