# Sugar Beet Profitability in Lubelskie Province, Poland
## 2 Methodology
Labor time associated with agricultural operations was estimated using data from the literature [11; 12] and the authors' own experience. It was assumed that the model farm uses both worn-out agricultural equipment (50%), such as plow, disc and tooth narrow, sprayer, and farm trailer, and new equipment including farm tractor, tillage unit, and fertilizer spreader. Farm characteristics [11]: sugar beet cultivation area ranging from more than 2 up to 10 ha, soil pH from 6 to 6.5, and beet leaves left on the field to fertilize the soil. The price of wet pulp in the surveyed years was PLN 21.00/ton in 2020, PLN 23.76/ton in 2021, and PLN 29.16/ton in 2022. The farm sells pulp, practices cultivation without manure, and uses services such as soil liming, sowing, and harvesting of sugar beets. The logistics of delivering beets to the sugar factory is managed by the sugar producer. The producer ensures transport of sugar beets as well as delivery of pulp and carbonation lime to locations designated by the grower within the collection area. The costs of these services are partly borne by the grower and included in the so-called comprehensive service costs. The grower's responsibility is limited to preparing a heap of beets of specified dimensions. Costs of preparing and forming this heap are borne by the grower and are included in the cost calculations presented here. Total revenue (\(TR\)) was calculated as the product of production volume and price per unit. Variable costs (\(VC\)) vary with the level of production over a year. Variable costs (\(VC\)) are the sum of direct costs (\(DC\)) and indirect costs (\(IC\)). Direct costs (\(DC\)) are calculated according to Formula (1)  
\[DC=K_{n}+K_{s}+K_{m} \tag{1}\]  
where \(K_{n}\)--seed costs, \(K_{s}\)--costs of plant protection products, \(K_{m}\)--costs of mineral fertilizers. Indirect costs (\(IC\)) result from the costs of comprehensive service: costs of production fees, costs of sowing and liming services, costs of cultivation and protection, general costs of agricultural activity, and costs of own labor, Formula (2):  
\[IC=K_{k}+K_{o}+K_{u}+K_{c}+K_{g}+K_{r} \tag{2}\]  
where \(K_{k}\)--cost of comprehensive service, \(K_{o}\)--production fee costs, \(K_{u}\)--costs of services: sowing, liming, harvesting, \(K_{c}\)--costs of cultivation and protection, \(K_{g}\)--general farming costs, \(K_{r}\)--costs of own work. Fixed costs (FC) do not change with the level of production during the year. Fixed costs are the sum of costs including depreciation of agricultural structures, equipment, etc., as well as taxes and insurance. Additionally, the return over variable costs (\(ROVC\)) was calculated:  
\[ROVC=TR-VC \tag{3}\]  
along with net farm income (\(NFI\)):  
\[NFI=ROVC-TC \tag{4}\]In addition, in the analysis used, the percentage share was determined according to Formula (5):  
\[U=\frac{K_{i}}{K}\cdot 100\% \tag{5}\]  
where \(K_{i}\)--individual costs, \(K\)--total cost. Production profitability was determined based on the production profitability index defined below (Formula (6)):  
\[W=\frac{TR}{K} \tag{6}\]  
where \(W\)--profitability index, \(TR\)--value of production, \(K\)--total cost. Determined from Formula (7), the profitability index of sugar beet production refers to one decaton (1 dt). If the indicator is greater than one, then the farm has earned income. The larger the value of the indicator, the higher the income. On this basis, we can compare the profitability of production in the years under consideration. The analysis of the cost of sugar beet production with all the previously presented assumptions is included in Tables 1-3. The most popular agricultural tractors used on the analyzed farms have a power of 48.5 kW and a working time of 400 h per year [11]. In the analyzed years, the cost of one hour of tractor work was PLN 97.12 in 2020 and PLN 97.66 in 2021. In 2022, the cost increased to PLN 124.11. The purchase price of beets was PLN 117.62 per ton in 2020, increased to PLN 127.86 in 2021, and amounted to PLN 175.34 in 2022.