This study of commercial family-operated cotton farms in the southern Piedmont area, which runs through parts of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, was undertaken to find out how costs and returns have varied during the years in response to changes in economic conditions, technology, and weather. Variations in farm income are related to changes in other factors such as demand, prices, size of farm, organization of enterprises, mechanization, and labor used. As individual farms are affected differently by these factors, results are presented for a specific type and size of farm. Because price relationships and technology change continuously no one year can be taken as typical or normal.