Small farmers are a diverse group, ranging from part-time hobbyists with good off-farm jobs to full-time operators. General rural development policies, rather than traditional farm policies, may be the best method to help those small farmers who earn insufficient income. (JHZ)

Survey information from 1,616 farm families in Wisconsin, Mississippi, and Tennessee was used to construct a viability ratio measuring a family's ability to meet its obligations from total income. Coupled with other farm characteristics, the ratio allows policymakers to see why some farms are viable and others are not. (JHZ)

Women's vulnerability to increased landlessness and other economic factors has created a need in most developing nations for year-round, rural, non-agricultural employment opportunities for women. Census data from 56 Third World countries reveal that women are generally underrepresented in the paid labor force and overrepresented in the…

Describing issues relative to economic development in nonmetropolitan areas, this document presents narrative and tabular data re: (1) the causal forces behind economic decline in rural America (technology, shifting patterns of demand for goods and services, and changes in life styles and residential preferences); (2) the incidence and indicators…