摘要：For the Southwestern Association, average net farm income was $40,598 in 1997 for the 208 farms included in this report (Table 1, pages 10-11). This is a decrease of 35% from 1996 continuing the pattern of large swings in income (Figure 1). Since costs changed very little, almost all of the decrease can be attributed to a decrease in gross income, specifically to decreases in the sales of corn and finished beef. (Net farm income is calculated by subtracting total cash farm expense and depreciation from gross cash farm income and adjusting for changes in inventory items.) After subtracting an opportunity cost for equity capital, labor and management earnings follow a similar but lower pattern (Table 4, p. 14).
