Cow-calf enterprises in the Northeastern United States are generally small and often the only agricultural enterprise of families with large off-farm incomes . In this paper, the economic viability of cow-calf enterprises to these investors is considered using a representative farm/economic engineering approach. Investments in farm real estate that is characterized by limited capability soil resources are found to yield negative labor and management incomes but to be economically viable when change in net worth and present value of family after-tax income are considered.