From a resource standpoint, the important point of this comparison is that including the marginal external costs of production and allocating resources based on the full social cost results in a higher price for the good (Ps > Pp) and less output (Os < Op) than only including the private costs.
Today, the nation's farmers are 17 years older than the average American worker, with the ranks of farmers who are 75 years and up outnumbering those in their prime working years of 35 to 44. One big reason U.S. farmers are going gray: spiraling costs.
Comparing 2007 to 1997, while the number of 500+ acre farms decreased slightly and the number of 50-499 acre farms declined by 17%, only farms under 50 acres increased (+19%). The average age of farmers is often the focal point of discussions regarding the future of agriculture, and in Ohio that age is 56. Of the 75,861 Ohio principal farm operators, 42% are age 35 - 54 (a period generally referred to as the prime working age) and another 52% are age 55 â 70+. Only 6% (4,729) principal ...