These papers describe the current economic conditions and outline some of the opportunities facing Minnesota farmers as they complete 1998 and develop plans for 1999. The first paper, Prospects For Farm Income in 1998, describes the variation in net farm income farmers in the Southeastern and...

In the Southeastern Association the average accrual net farm income in 1996 was $67,579 for the 61 farms included in this report. The decrease is due to lower inventory levels since the increase in gross cash income was higher than the increase in total cash farm expenses. Even though this is a...

Average net farm income was $8,616 in 1998 for the 210 farms included in this annual report of the Southwestern Minnesota Farm Business Management Association. This is a decrease of 79% from 1997. During the last 20 years, net farm income has been lower than the 1998 level only in 1981 and 1985....

For the Southwestern Association, average accrual net farm income was $62,699 in 1996 for the 203 farms included in this report. This is an increase of 9% from 1995 making 1996 another high income year in a job with large swings in income. This volatility can be seen whether income is measured...

For the Southwestern Association, average net farm income was $40,598 in 1997 for the 208 farms included in this report. This is a decrease of 35% from 1996 continuing the pattern of large swings in income. Since costs changed very little, almost all of the decrease can be attributed to a...

In the Southeastern Association the average net farm income in 1997 was $73,311 for the 64 farms included in this report. This was an increase of 8.5% from 1996. The increase is due to replenishment of inventories which had been depleted in 1996. Total cash farm expenses increased 7%. The 1997...