The increase of poverty on Wisconsin farms in the late seventies is in contrast to the nonfarm sector in Wisconsin and to the trend of decreasing poverty in the nation. The federal formula for determining poverty levels uses personal income, the cost of a nutritionally adequate diet, and an assumption that food costs are one-third of a family's…

Information about small farms is valuable at federal, state, and local levels to program managers and community developers, researchers and educators, policy makers and farm families themselves. Adequate information can help in the assessment of small farm program needs, development of appropriate policies, and management of effective programs,…

During the farm crisis of the 1980s, many midwestern farm families suffered financial distress, but by 1989 an uneven financial recovery was under way. This report summarizes data collected from 622 Wisconsin farm operators (a 39% response rate) and 525 spouses as part of a large survey conducted in 12 North Central states. The purpose of the…

To describe rural poverty in Wisconsin in a manner useful to educators, policymakers, clergy, and businesspersons, census statistics, primarily from 1980, were used to look separately at rural nonfarm, farm, and urban families and persons. Other census data provided comparability. As measured in 1980, 6% of urban and rural nonfarm families had…