Microgreens Profit & Break-Even Calculator
Enter how many trays you grow per week, your seed and sale costs, and overhead to see weekly profit, break-even trays, and how many weeks until you recoup your starting costs. Nothing uploaded.
Variety
Your numbers
Advanced cost inputs
Variety margin ranking ?
Learn more: microgreens profit math
What the tool counts
Profit per tray is yield in ounces times your sell price, minus the seed cost. Weekly profit is trays per week times that figure, minus your fixed overhead converted to a week (monthly overhead x 12 / 52). The tool does not count labor, growing medium, packaging, water or delivery, so treat the result as profit before those costs.
For radish, the tool's default is 2 oz of seed at $0.50 per oz, so $1.00 of seed, and 8 oz of yield. At $2.10 per oz that is $16.80 of revenue and $15.80 of profit per tray. Amaranth costs $1.00 of seed too (0.5 oz at $2.00) and yields 3 oz, so at $3.00 per oz it makes $9.00 and $8.00 profit.
Cycle time and tray turns
The tool stores a grow time for each variety but does not use it in the calculation. You can do the arithmetic yourself. Radish at 7 days turns a tray about 4.3 times in a 30-day month, so $15.80 a turn is about $68 a month per tray slot. Amaranth at 11 days turns 2.7 times, so $8.00 a turn is about $22.
The USU Extension guide Grow Your Own Microgreens gives 8 to 12 days to harvest for radish, 9 to 10 for sunflower, 8 to 10 for pea, 8 to 12 for broccoli and 6 to 8 for arugula. The tool's 7 days for radish is below the guide's range, so use your own timing.
Seed amounts differ between sources
The same USU guide lists seeding rates per 1020 tray of 42 g for radish (about 1.5 oz), 28 g for broccoli (about 1 oz), 10 g for arugula (about 0.35 oz) and 150 g for pea (about 5.3 oz). The tool's defaults of 2, 1.5, 1 and 10 oz are higher, so its seed costs are on the cautious side. Seed price and rate depend on your supplier, so replace the defaults.
Break-even trays per week
Fixed costs are turned into a weekly figure and divided by the profit per tray. At $200 a month the weekly overhead is $46.15. Against $15.80 profit per radish tray, that is 2.9 trays a week before the setup covers its own overhead.
FAQ
Does a higher sell price always mean more profit?
Not by itself. Profit per tray counts, and so does how many trays you can run through your space each month. A modest margin on a fast crop can earn more per tray slot than a wide margin on a slow one.
How is break-even trays per week worked out?
Monthly overhead is multiplied by 12 and divided by 52, then divided by profit per tray. Below that tray count, revenue does not cover the fixed costs.
Which variety has the best margin?
It depends on your price, seed cost and yield, so the tool ranks them live by margin percentage. A low-cost variety with decent yield, like radish in the defaults, tends to rank well. Check the ranking after you change the numbers.