ABSTRACT
Data from individual farm financial records is available in at least two dozen states. These farm record programs are sponsored by three types of groups: (1) farm management associations, (2) departments of agricultural economics and Cooperative Extension and (3) vocational-technical school programs. In several states there is cooperation between the farm management associations and agricultural economists in the collection and analysis of data from individual farm records. A list of the organizations responsible for collecting and publishing the data in each state appears in an appendix at the end of the chapter. Much of this effort is primarily related to extension farm management programs, but in some cases the data is the basis for research studies. This chapter is primarily concerned with (1) the use of this firm level data as a basis for studying issues such as farm size and structure, (2) whether the data could be made consistent to facilitate comparisons of net returns across states and (3) presentation of data from three states relating farm size to measures of profitability as an example of the use of farm record data in studying farm size issues.
