ABSTRACT
The agricultural economics profession has had many discussions, indeed, controversy over accounting for costs and returns. The members for the Task Force were from many of the facets of the agricultural financial industry: lenders, regulators of financial institutions, research and extension personnel, accountants, representatives of farm groups and the Economic Research Service (ERS). In addition, reduction in ERS field staff resulted in the limited coordination of ERS efforts with economists at land grant universities. The lack of an organizational structure for coordination and interaction between ERS and state economists also contributed. Since the 1920s the issue of coordination and cooperation between universities, farmers, lenders and government has arisen during the dialogue on the difficult issues of the economic cost accounting.
