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.
Consistent with a thirty-year trend, farmers average age continued to increase (Fig. 2). For principal operators, average age increased 2 percent between 2007 and 2012. Although second and third operators are younger, their average ages increased 4 and 3 percent respectively (Table 5).