Policymakers, farmers, managers of agriculture and others look to agricultural economists for accurate estimates of the costs and returns of individual agricultural commodities. But there is great diversity and disagreement among practitioners about the best method for such analysis. The contributors to this volume explore how different uses of estimates determine different methods of estimation, as well as evaluating what the preferred methods are for similar uses.

This handbook's purpose is to gather in one place information on estimating costs of and returns to agricultural enterprises. The USDA has been involved in the estimation of costs and returns (CARS) to agricultural enterprises for many years, the latest effort under the auspices of the Agricultural Resource Management Study (ARMS). This monograph was prepared by a Task Force organized by the American Agricultural Economics Association's Economic Statistics and Information Resources Committee. The mission given to the Task Force by the committee was "to recommend standardized practices for generating costs and returns estimates for agricultural commodities after a careful examination of the relevant economic theory and the merits of alternative methods.

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