5. The farm is considering growing watermelons on their 50-acre farm.

Each acre of watermelon requires 4 labor hours and 11 bags of fertilizer (there are no shipping or storage constraints). The profit contribution from an acre of watermelons is $306. Use the sensitivity report below to:

a) Determine the reduced cost of an acre of watermelons. Clearly show your calculations using the data in the sensitivity report; you can confirm your answer by running Excel but you do not need to run excel to answer this question.

b) Write a short recommendation (1-2 sentences) that clearly states whether and how many acres of watermelons they should grow and why.

Sensitivity Report:

A California grower has a 50 -acre farm on which strawberries and tomatoes are planted. The profit contribution from an acre of Strawberries is $400 and the profit contribution from an acre of Tomatoes is $300. The grower has 300 hours of labor, 800 tons of fertilizer and contracted shipping space for a maximum of 26 acres of strawberries and 37 acres of tomatoes. An acre of Strawberries requires 10 labor hours and 8 bags of fertilizer; an acre of Tomatoes requires 3 labor hours and 20 bags of fertilizer. The following linear programming model has been developed to determine the number of acres of strawberries (S) and Tomatoes (T) the farmer should plant in order to maximize profit contribution. Max400S+300Ts.t.S+T50Land10S+3T300Labor8S+20T800FertilizerS26ShippingST37ShippingTS,T0Non-Negativity The optimal solution has been determined by running Excel solver (see the answer report below): S=21.43 acres T=28.57 acres Maximum profit contribution is $17,142.86 In other words, to obtain the maximum profit contribution of $17,142.86 the farmer should plant 21.43 acres of strawberries and 28.57 acres of tomatoes Variable Cells