National average statistics related to farm production mask the diversity in the Nation's 2 million farms and the people who operate them. Farms in the United States differ not only by size (sales and acres) and type of production, but also by organizational characteristics (land ownership, legal organization, contracting arrangements) and financial characteristics (debt, assets, income, expenditures). Farm operators and their households vary with respect to demographic characteristics (occupation, age, education), financial characteristics (dependence on farm income, operator/spouse labor allocation), and management characteristics (information sources, business goals).