Argument10 by simplelife1211

simplelife1211UID: 2669353

TOPIC: ARGUMENT10 - The following appeared in a letter to the editor of a Batavia newspaper.
"The department of agriculture in Batavia reports that the number of dairy farms throughout the country is now 25 percent greater than it was 10 years ago. During this same time period, however, the price of milk at the local Excello Food Market has increased from $1.50 to over $3.00 per gallon. To prevent farmers from continuing to receive excessive profits on an apparently increased supply of milk, the Batavia government should begin to regulate retail milk prices. Such regulation is necessary to ensure
both lower prices and an adequate supply of milk for consumers."
WORDS: 402          TIME: 00:31:20          DATE: 2009/8/16 9:21:00

Before accepting the conclusion, this argument could be questioned from several aspects. The author draws the conclusion based on the reports of the dairy farms and the survey in EFM without accounting for the cost to produce milk and the result such a policy will bring.

To begin with, the increase in the number of dairy farms does not indicate that the production of milk also increases. There is no conspicuous relation between the number of dairy farms and the production of milk. It is entirely possible that due to the increasing number of dairy farms, the contest in the diary market is getting more and fiercer and makes the farmers less willing to produce milk, which results in the decrease in milk production.

Additionally, even if there is more milk produced now, the surge in the price of milk in EFM is also little indication that farmers are receiving excessive profits. On the one hand, the increase in the milk price in EFM does not mean the price is high. Perhaps the average price for milk nationally is $5, and the price in B is much lower compared with the average price. On the hand, since the cost for producing the milk should also be accounted when talking about profit. Therefore the farmers may not get much profit because of the surge in the cost in milk production. Furthermore, even assuming farmers get more profit than before, there is no evidence to show such profit is beyond the acceptable limit.

Finally, granted that the profit farmers get really exceed the limit which could be accepted, regulating the milk prices does not necessarily ensure lower prices and the adequate supply of milk. Maybe, because of the little profit on milk resulted by such a regulation, there will be few farmers to produce milk which may lead to the insufficiency in supply of the milk in B. And since the price changes with the supply of the product, the price may also increase as a result. If so, the advice would amount to an especially poor idea for B.

In conclusion, the author supplies a seemingly favorable advice for the local government, while the deduction is unwarranted. To better buttress the argument, the author should give more information to prove that the profit farmers gets is really too much and the regulation of milk price will actually benefit people in Batavia.