Differences in economic development, population density and culture mean that the farmers of the world operate under very different conditions.
A US cotton farmer may receive US$230 in government subsidies per acre planted (in 2003), while farmers in Mali and other third-world countries do without. When prices decline, the heavily subsidised US farmer is not forced to reduce his output, making it difficult for cotton prices to rebound, but his Mali counterpart may go broke in the meantime.
A livestock farmer in South Korea can calculate with a (highly subsidized) sales price of US$1300 for a calf produced.A South American Mercosur country rancher calculates with a calf's sales price of US$120–200 (both 2008 figures).With the former, scarcity and high cost of land is compensated with public subsidies, the latter compensates absence of subsidies with economics of scale and low cost of land.
In the Peoples Republic of China, a rural household's productive asset may be one hectare of farmland.In Brazil, Paraguay and other countries where local legislature allows such purchases, international investors buy thousands of hectares of farmland or raw land at prices of a few hundred US$ per hectare.
A US cotton farmer may receive US$230 in government subsidies per acre planted (in 2003), while farmers in Mali and other third-world countries do without. When prices decline, the heavily subsidised US farmer is not forced to reduce his output, making it difficult for cotton prices to rebound, but his Mali counterpart may go broke in the meantime.
A livestock farmer in South Korea can calculate with a (highly subsidized) sales price of US$1300 for a calf produced.A South American Mercosur country rancher calculates with a calf's sales price of US$120–200 (both 2008 figures).With the former, scarcity and high cost of land is compensated with public subsidies, the latter compensates absence of subsidies with economics of scale and low cost of land.
In the Peoples Republic of China, a rural household's productive asset may be one hectare of farmland.In Brazil, Paraguay and other countries where local legislature allows such purchases, international investors buy thousands of hectares of farmland or raw land at prices of a few hundred US$ per hectare.
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