Age Of Operator Report, 1999                                       
                            North Dakota Farm Business Management Education Program                         
                                                 State Report                                               

                                        Average For                                                       
                                          All Farms   Under 31    31 - 40    41 - 50    51 - 60    Over 60
Number of farms                                 467         45        126        198         73         25

Income Statement
  Gross cash farm income                     218456     130050     215940     250031     208850     168239
  Total cash farm expense                    168244     108326     168595     190798     161070     116649
  Net cash farm income                        50212      21724      47345      59233      47780      51590
  Inventory change                            15667      14833      22014      17515       8462      -8410
  Depreciation and capital adjustment        -14697      -6063     -11582     -18760     -17524      -5512
  Net farm income                             51181      30494      57776      57988      38718      37668

Profitability (cost)
  Labor and management earnings               34726      25036      44435      39644      17578      14364
  Rate of return on assets                      9 %       10 %       11 %        9 %        6 %        6 %
  Rate of return on equity                     11 %       15 %       16 %       11 %        5 %        4 %
  Operating profit margin                      23 %       18 %       24 %       23 %       20 %       23 %
  Asset turnover rate                          39 %       52 %       46 %       40 %       30 %       25 %

Liquidity
  Term debt coverage ratio                    177 %      177 %      185 %      182 %      149 %      185 %
  Expense as a percent of income               72 %       75 %       71 %       71 %       74 %       74 %
  Interest as a percent of income               9 %        8 %        8 %        9 %       11 %       10 %

Solvency (cost)
  Number of sole proprietors                    450         44        120        190         71         25
  Ending farm assets                         562612     268422     493118     633708     651960     619873
  Ending farm liabilities                    283713     170965     263246     320523     308641     229837
  Ending total assets                        646236     287829     558506     735892     742073     744577
  Ending total liabilities                   297207     179266     279767     335790     318442     234953
  Ending net worth                           349029     108563     278739     400101     423631     509624
  Net worth change                            38216      20113      41023      42037      33063      42199
  Ending farm debt to asset ratio              50 %       64 %       53 %       51 %       47 %       37 %
  Beg total debt to asset ratio                48 %       65 %       53 %       48 %       45 %       33 %
  End total debt to asset ratio                46 %       62 %       50 %       46 %       43 %       32 %

Nonfarm Information
  Farms reporting living expenses               342         30         93        142         58         19
  Total family living expense                 31851      21768      32002      35520      29209      27679
  Total living, invest, & capital purch       42429      22662      41453      48519      40372      39180
  Net nonfarm income                          17665      14773      16344      19282      16849      19097

Crop Acres
  Total acres owned                             838        386        608        920       1184       1146
  Total crop acres                             1622        977       1629       1814       1642       1166
  Total crop acres owned                        505        159        388        546        776        597
  Total crop acres cash rented                  824        649        915        918        679        366
  Total crop acres share rented                 293        168        326        350        187        204