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 perio

While it may be true that the government should have some kind of regulation in retail milk prices to ensure farmers do not overprice the product, the author of this letter should need to analyze all possible reasons for the price changes, since he fails to evaluate all points in depth.

First, the author says that since the number of dairy farms have increase 25 percent over the last 10 years, the price of milk should reduce because of incremented production, however, he does not take into account the increase in population for Batavia, if the population growth overpassed that of the population coverage of the farms, it would result in an increase of demand but lack of offer, meaning the prices would go up.

Similarly, the author does not consider the changes in price of the cows that produce the milk, or a possible decrease of production per cow. If the cost of the animals producing the milk increases, the cost of the milk would also increase, no matter how much the number of farms grew. Likewise, if the production per cow decreased, that would explain the increase of farms, in order to maintain the supply of milk, but at the same time, increasing expenses for the farmers, and the cost of the product.

Finally, the author of the letter fails to take into account the changes of economy. If the economy has gone through a big inflation period, things like gasoline, vehicles, and workers’ salaries would have gone up, making profits smaller, which would translate into the farmers increasing prices to cover up those expenses.

If the author of the letter wants to make a strong case against the price increases of milk, and for the government to regulate retail prices of it, he would have to provide data about these scenarios and how they affected the prices, to see if farmers are overpricing milk or just compensating for other factors.