The study consisted of four gender-segregated focus groups in which farm couples were asked to describe an actual and a hypothetical farm decision. We used this study to triangulate the findings of a survey of six hundred couples on farm decision making. We also used it to formulate a theoretical model of farm decision making and to determine which explanatory variables to include. The findings indicate that while couples exhibit a high degree of cooperation, share goals, and make long-term decisions jointly, they have different preferences and different spheres of influence and decision making on the farm. These points to a cooperative bargaining model of decision-making behavior. Factors that most influenced decision making were age, debt load, and wives' off-farm income.