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.