Overview
This tool provides an interactive budget for a single year’s pecan production. The tool is a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that you will download to your computer. (None of your information will be available online.) The spreadsheet calculates operating costs and profit by collecting specific information about a current or potential pecan producer operation including:
- Fixed cost information – your loans, maintenance costs
- Variable (running costs) – e.g.,fuel costs, irrigation, pesticide and fertilizer applications, and harvesting and cleaning costs
Using the tool
Download the spreadsheet onto your computer using this link: Economic Budget for Pecan Producers by right clicking on the link and saving the file on on your computer. Different browsers have different wording to do this:
Firefox: Save Link As…
Google Chrome: Save link as…
Safari: Download Linked File As…
IE: Save Target As…
Navigate through the spreadsheet from top to bottom answering a series of questions. Enter data ONLY in the designated areas. Do not try to change any formulas.
Questions are divided into subcategories. Each subcategory will have some impact on the economics of an operation. However, although the tool is designed to be comprehensive, in many cases default values (indicated by orange boxes) simplify the process of obtaining a useful operating budget. Much of the information required to answer questions can also be found in other areas of the Pecan ipmPIPE website.
When a useful budget has been developed, the spreadsheet can be renamed and saved. (Example: On your computer, Save the file as mypecanbudget1 or something you will remember.)
You can develop as many budget versions as you like, but we recommend that you download a fresh version of the spreadsheet to ensure the integrity of the interlinked calculations, and any updates we have made.
If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Andrew Birt.