America's farmers, over the years, have received and accepted much good advice about how to value their way of life, how to become more efficient producers, how to maintain prices and incomes, how to preserve the soil and the natural environment, and how to relate to other economic sectors and to fanners in other countries.

On the centennial of Henry Agard Wallace's birth in 1988, it was recognized and memorialized in the U.S. Congress that the three generations of the Wallace family constituted the first family in the history of American agriculture.

Diversification into alternative enterprises appears to be gaining in popularity and economic importance as a way to supplement family income and to provide alternative sources of high-quality food. However, potential rabbit producers lack information about investment requirements and production and marketing costs. The objective of this study was to determine the most profitable operation of small-scale rabbit production by estimating the costs and returns, net present values, and payback periods of two rabbit production systems. Despite a difference in the net income generated, a cash surplus occurred for both systems at the end of the third year. This surplus was the return to land, family labor, and management. Thus, rabbit enterprises may provide economic opportunities for farm families who have limited land and capital.

Several themes emerged from this conference suggesting how science can be better linked to sustainability. Major themes that need to be addressed include: institutions and change; linkages among different groups involved in the food system, from producers through consumers; indicators of sustainability that encompass “quality of life”; changing the behavior of farmers and researchers to make agriculture more sustainable; and new approaches to research that are suited to alternative agricultures. Throughout the conference these themes were developed as farmers, researchers, and others exchanged their diverse viewpoints and experiences. These viewpoints are reflected both in the formal papers published in this issue and in the comments of panelists that I will draw on in trying to convey the major themes of the conference.