Average net farm income rebounded to $70,007 in 2002 for the 188 farms included in this annual report of the Southwestern Minnesota Farm Business Management Association. This is a sharp increase (91%) from the average net farm income of $36,614 in 2001. As in previous years, the actual profit levels experienced by individual farms vary greatly from the overall average profit. When the net farm incomes for the 188 farms in the report are ranked from lowest to highest, the resulting graph shows how much the incomes do vary. Nine percent of the farms experienced negative net farm income in 2002; 26% had incomes over $100,000. The median or middle income was $61,465. The high 20% of the farms had an average net farm income of $181,981 which is a 40% increase from 2001. The low 20% of the farms had an average loss of $-22,998 in 2002. Most of the added income resulted from crop inventory increases. Average gross cash farm income actually decreased slightly, to $428,084, a 1% decrease from 2001. Four sources of sales again dominated: hogs, corn, soybeans, and beef finishing. Corn and soybean income increased by 17% and 11%, respectively, over 2001 levels while hog income was down 6%. Government payments of all types averaged $15,927 in 2002, a 67% reduction from the previous year. Payments were reduced because of lower direct crop payments and higher crop prices, resulting in very limited LDP payments. Government payments for the average farm were $48,208 in 2001, $50,567 in 2000, $44,674 in 1999, $30,021 in 1998, and $12,257 in 1997. As a percentage of total income, government payments were 4% in 2002, compared to 11% in 2001, 12% in 2000, 11% in 1999, 8% in 1998, and 3% in 1997. Cash expenses decreased very slightly (2%) to an average of $352,995 in 2002. As a percentage of total expenses including depreciation, feeder purchases; feed, seed, fertilizer, and crop chemicals; and land rent continue to be the largest expense items. Both the average rate of return on assets (ROA) and the rate of return to equity (ROE) increased in 2002 compared to 2001. In 2002 ROA averaged 9% and ROE was 11% using assets valued on a cost basis. The fact that ROE exceeded ROA indicates that debt capital was earning more than its cost. Using a market value basis, average total equity (of the 161 sole proprietors) was $699,570 at the end of 2002. This was an increase of $54,147 during the year for these farms (p. 17). Average equity has continued to improve since 1986. The average debt-asset ratio decreased from 47% at the beginning of the year to 45 % at the end of 2002. The average corn yield was 151 bushels per acre; soybeans were at 49 bushels per acre. Both were substantially higher than 2001 yields. Results by Type of Farm The 188 farms in the report were classified as a certain type of farm (e.g., hog) on the basis of having 70 percent or more of their gross sales from that category. Using this 70 percent rule in 2002, there were 94 crop farms, 10 hog farms, 15 crop and hog farms, 10 beef farms, and 10 crop and beef farms. (There were 40 farms which did not have a single source (or pair of sources) of income over 70%.) The beef farms were the most profitable in 2002, after experiencing very low returns in 2001. Crop and crop/beef farms also averaged incomes higher than the Association average. The average hog farm in the Association suffered a substantial loss. Beef farms, along with crop farms, also had the highest rate of return on assets (ROA. (Assets are valued on a cost-basis for ROA). Using assets valued on a market basis, the average crop farm has a debt-to-asset ratio of 42% at the end of 2002. Only specialized beef farms and hog farms had an average debt-to-asset ratio higher than 50%. The average hog farm's debt to asset ratio increased from 47% to 53% in 2002. The report provides additional information on profitability, liquidity, and solvency as well as other whole-farm information and detailed information on crop and livestock enterprises. Also reported are whole-farm financial condition and performance by county, sales size class, and type of farm.