Welcome to the Sod Financial Calculator
The online financial tool designed to make turfgrass financial assessment easier.
About
This project was developed by Sanchez Philocles, Graduate Research Assistant, and Camila Ulloa, Research Visiting Scholar from the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture.
The Sod Financial Calculator is an online financial tool designed to make turfgrass financial assessment easier by providing you with information related to costs and returns, profitability projection, and break-even and sensitivity analyses. Specific financial reports obtained from this tool include profitability per acre/farm, cost structure, sensitivity analysis, and break-even price and yield analyses.
The Sod Financial Calculator is free to use for anyone in the United States of America only. You only need an email address to get started. Simply answer a few easy questions and you are on your way.
What information do you need to gather before starting?
The Sod Financial Calculator works like an interview: we ask you easy-to-answer questions about your turfgrass operation, particularly about the inputs and resources used to grow turfgrass in your general operational procedures, processes, and practices. General information on acreage, yield, and selling price by turf species include:
- Capital invested on buildings, power equipment, and implements
- Variable costs such as seed, pesticides, fertilizers, and fuel
- Labor costs in full-time, part-time, machine operators, and H2A workers, if applicable
- Fixed and overhead costs such as marketing, taxes, and benefits
You will be able to provide a list of buildings, machineries, and implements that you use in your turf operation together with the purchase price and useful life. You will be asked questions about the cost of inputs, such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, fuel, etc. We also ask questions regarding those in your employment and their salaries. Lastly, we ask questions regarding fixed and overhead costs, such as communication and advertising, insurance, as well as employee benefits.
The Sod Financial Calculator derives from a larger project, “The Purdue Sod Project,” aiming to fulfill a critical need for diversifying sod production with sustainable turfgrasses. The team is formed by a group of researchers from Purdue University and the University of Minnesota including, Dr. Ariana Torres (torres2@purdue.edu), Dr. Aaron Patton (ajpatton@purdue.edu), and Dr. Eric Watkins (ewatkins@umn.edu). Please do not hesitate to contact them for any inquiry.
This project is funded by the USDA-AMS Multi-State Specialty Crop Program, award numberA337-19-SCMP-18-001. Data Policy Informed Consent Form and Privacy Policy (Farm Owner and Farm Manager).