To improve farm management instruction in vocational agriculture, survey data were secured from 125 young farmers in 35 Ohio counties to determine the relationship between their perception of themselves as entrepreneurs and their success in farming. The respondents represented a range of success in farming, were full-time farmers between the ages of 18 and 35, and had responsibility for managing a farm. An analysis of the data was made by factor analysis, analysis of variance, and multiple regression techniques. Some findings were: (1) Planning and organizing resources, keeping records and accounts, and the wise use of time were identified most frequently by the young farmers as the most important tasks of management, (2) Young farmers who gave themselves high overall ratings as managers had higher farming status, more years of formal education, and higher family goal attainments than those with medium or low ratings, and (3) There was a positive correlation between most of the personal and success factors and managerial perception. Recommendations for the young farmer program dealt with the overall design and organization, teacher education, subject matter areas, and method directed toward improvement of farm management instruction for young farmers. This Ph.D. thesis was submitted to The Ohio State University. The final chapter and appendixes are available as VT 004 612. (WB)