Farmers are continually faced with the necessity to make farm management decisions which have economic consequences. Often the situation occurs wherein the farmer has little information upon which to base a decision. The situation may be forced on the farmer so that a no action decision also has economic importance. Also, as is the case in a dynamic society, a decision made now can have repercussions in years to come.

For many years, some type of government farm program has been in effect for many farm commodities. Most of these programs have been designed so that a farmer's decision to participate could be made on a year to year basis. Production decisions could be made independently with a decision not to participate in a given year having no effect on the choice or level of participation available in subsequent years.