ABSTRACT
Although production agriculture accounts for a small share of our Gross National Product, the whole of the food and fiber system accounts for about one-fifth of our economy and trade in agricultural commodities has a significant and positive influence on our trade balance. The approaches used today for estimating costs and returns were developed at a time when the major use of the statistics was for farmer planning. This introduction also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book introduces the major measurement issues associated with the different end-uses of cost and return estimates. It covers the measurement issues associated with line items in a cost and returns statement that are often, maybe always, controversial. The book presents perspectives on future directions in measuring costs and returns. Finally, it concludes with a very useful presentation, especially for practicing extension economists, on alternative computing approaches.
