ABSTRACT
The agricultural economists, sociologists, rural sociologists, and home economists who participated in this project have provided different, yet compatible, interpretations of data and unique, yet complementary, emphases in analysis. Agricultural economists focused on the financial characteristics of farm operations. From the joint labor of specialists in different disciplines, we can draw conclusions about farm operations, households, and communities. These conclusions center on the widening disparities within the rural sector, on common strategies and mechanisms for survival, and on economic and social profiles of farmers who prevailed during the 1980s. As economists and sociologists examined findings on farm operations, communities, and households in the 12 Midwestern states, it became obvious that the old disparities had widened and that new ones had emerged. The findings reviewed here have a number of implications in regard to changes in the structure of agriculture and the economic base of rural communities.
