In: Economics
A farmer has discovered that on his farm, he can get 30 bushels of corn per acre if he applies no fertilizer. When he applies N pounds of fertilizer to an acre of land, the marginal product of fertilizer is 1−N/200 bushels of corn per pound of fertilizer.
(a) If the price of corn is $3 a bushel and the price of
fertilizer is $p per pound (where p < 3), how many pounds of
fertilizer should be use per acre in order to maximize profits?
(b) Write down a function that states the farmer’s yield per acre as a function of the amount of fertilizer he uses and explain why it is representative of the yield per acre.
(c) The farmer’s neighbor, Johan has better land than
him, as a matter of fact, for any amount of fertilizer that was
applied, he gets exactly twice as such corn per acre with the same
amount of fertilizer. How much fertilizer will Johan use per acre
when the price of corn $3 a bushel and the price of fertilizer is
$p per pound.