Is farming perfectly competitive?Consider whether the US farming industry is perfectly competitive.

Go to:

https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=43916

as the U.S. Department of Agriculture website (2014 is the latest report). Review the data at the website and take a quick look at the PDF documents at the website and then answer the following questions:

1. Does farming in the US have the characteristics of perfect competition? Walk through the characteristics in Table 10.1 (picture below) and explain why or why not'?

2.Based on the data, is this industry slowly migrating towards another market structure? Which one?

You can use some other reference than above, but you must include a link to your reference.

Note: In addition to Kahn Academy, good short videos on analyzing this market are at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GYlcWi_gHA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB-dcAjOJNo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAtbiV1I98w

Table 10.1 :

TABLE 10.1 Characteristics of the Four Basic Market Models Market Model Pure Characteristic Competition Monopolistic Competition Oligopoly Pure Monopoly Number of firms A very large Many Few One number Type of product Standardized Differentiated Standardized or differentiated Unique; no close substitutes Control over price None Some, but within rather narrow limits Limited by mutual interdependence; Considerable considerable with collusion Conditions of Very easy, no Relatively easy Significant obstacles Blocked entry obstacles Nonprice None Considerable emphasis on advertising, Typically a great deal, particularly with Mostly public relations competition brand names, trademarks product differentiation advertising Examples Agriculture Retail trade, dresses, shoes Steel, automobiles, farm implements, Local utilities many household appliances