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 report summarizes the operating results for 1952 of 20 important types of commercial family-operated farms located in the major producing areas of the country. Returns in 1952 varied widely among different types of farms, as they have in previous years.