This bulletin, the first of a series of four, summarizes a study of the organization and management of farms in Iowa County, which was made in an effort to discover systems which will yield larger farm incomes*. The central questions in such a study have to do with the use of the farmer’s resources, of which land and labor are the most important.

The farm operator will want to select the crop enterprises which, will give him the greatest returns from his land over a period of years. In selecting the crops to utilize the land it will be necessary to consider the type of the soil, the topography, the climatic conditions, the location of the area with regard to markets and transportation facilities, the requirements of livestock enterprises for feeds and the demands of other crops for labor at different seasons of the year.