Exploration of possibilities of increasing farm incomes in a selected area by preparation and choice of alternative farm plans

Because of recent innovations, advances in technology, and a cost-price squeeze many farmers in the United States of America realize that they need to make important changes in their farm organization and production practices. Agricultural research is needed to supply information that will assist farmers in adjusting to these changing situations. This information may be in the nature of input-output data useful in preparing farm plans and budgets, or it may consist of synthetic optimum plans for selected farm situations that may serve as guides to farmers on similar farms in making management decisions.

This study was directed in particular toward farms in the southeastern part of the Highland Rim Region of Tennessee which is the largest Physiographic Region in the state. The case-study farm selected for analysis was representative of the modal group of commercial farms in respect to size and soil pattern. Hence, it was estimated that the case-study farm was fairly representative of several thousand farms on which the operators were facing adjustment problems similar to those on the case-study farm. Data from the United States Census for 1959 show that the average returns to the operator on farms in the modal size group were less than $1000 per year.

The major objective was to test the hypothesis that certain selected alternative farming systems would show higher net returns than his performance in 1961.