Examination of the private economics of soil conservation is particularly germane at this time of policy reassessment under the provisions of the Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act of 1977. An understanding of farmers' perceptions of their economic interests is essential in the development of policy instruments that will achieve social objectives. We classify the evidence on the farmer's perspective into (a) what farmers say about soil conservation as indicated in surveys of opinion, (b) the record of what they are doing, and (c) the results of models which purport to show what farmers are, should be, or are going to do. A final section of the paper deals with modeling needs.