In an attempt to determine the basis of the farm wife's involvement in farm tasks, hypotheses regarding farm size and type, family cycle and wife's age, off-farm work of husband or wife, and family educational levels were tested in a 1978 random questionnaire survey of 532 Wisconsin farm families. As expected, wives were more involved with farm operations on dairy farms and on farms that grossed up to $70,000. However, on farms larger than that, wives appeared to be equal partners or to reduce their involvement. Also as expected, farm record keeping was the wife's responsibility, whether she worked off the farm or not, if her educational level exceeded that of her husband. Contrary to expectations, the wife's involvement in physical farm tasks and field work did not decrease when children were young but remained high until the oldest reached 18. This was especially true for less educated women. The wife's physical involvement increased still more if her non-college educated husband worked off the farm. Women with more education apparently had more discretion in doing farm tasks. The needs of both the farm enterprise and the family affected the women's contribution to farming. (SB)