On average, sustainable farmers control fewer financial assets than conventional farmers, but are proportionately no more heavily in debt. Sustainable farmers spend less on some items, but average cost per unit of production reported by conventional and sustainable farmers is not consistently or significantly different. Conventional farms generally report higher gross income and more support from federal farm programs, and in 1991 performed better overall economically than sustainable farms. Nonetheless, the top one-third of the sustainable farms earned positive returns to net worth in 1991 after principal and interest payments, family labor costs, and adjustments in value of livestock were taken into account. These top-performing sustainable farms were often smaller than other sustainable farms.
Management skill is a crucial factor in successful sustainable farms.
The economic viability of sustainable farming has been difficult for economists to evaluate. Partly, this is because it is defined in so many ways. But it is also because the economic strategy at work in sustainable agriculture is long term and best analyzed on a whole-farm basis. Most economic analyses of farms cover each crop separately and for only one growing season. Not surprisingly, reveiws of studies comparing the two systems produce little that is conclusive.