Self-study
P1
The prevailing trend in agriculture toward massive and highly mechanized production, with its heavy dependence on debt and credit as a means of raising capital, has been linked to the growing problem of bankruptcy among small farms. ███
Problem ·
Modern agriculture has bankrupted lots of small farms
Solution ·
Watley: guidelines for small farms
Watley proposes guidelines which, in addition to smart management and hard work, can help small farms become profitable again.
P2
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Solution Details ·
Grow a variety of crops
Grow at least 10 different crops to hedge against crop failure and generate year-round cash flow.
Solution Details ·
Clientele membership club
Instead of loans, get consumers to pay first. Get them to harvest the crops for you. Grow only what your consumers want. Grow it how they want (e.g. pesticide free?).
P3
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Solution Details ·
Decrease costs
50% of costs are from harvesting so outsourcing that to your consumers allows you to lower your price.
Solution Details ·
Sell direct to consumers
Eliminate middle man (distribution) costs.
Solution Details ·
Estimates
25 acre farm needs about 1,000 people from metropolitan areas.
P4
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Solution Requirements ·
Location
Locate farm near big towns. Have your consumers travel to you to get the food.
Solution Requirements ·
Irrigation and liability insurance
Some crops don't be drought resistant. Someone is going to fall and hurt themselves on your farm.
Main Point ·
This solution will enable small farms to operate profitably
Passage Style
Problem-analysis
Single position
4.
The author of the passage ██ █████████ █████████ ████
a
summarizing the main ██████ ██ ██ ██████████ ████████ ██ █ ███████ ███████
This best capture the primary purpose, which is to present Whatley’s approach to small farms. Whatley’s approach is the innovative solution, and the serious problem is the problem of debt and bankruptcy faced by small farms.
b
examining contemporary trends ███ █████████ █████ █████████ ███ ██████████
This doesn’t capture Whatley’s approach to small farms. That’s a central component of the passage.
c
criticizing widely accepted █████████ ██████ █ ███ ██████ ██ ███ ███████
This doesn’t capture Whatley’s approach to small farms. That’s a central component of the passage.
d
demonstrating the advantages ███ █████████████ ██ █ ███ ████████ ██████ ██ ████████
The passage doesn’t “demonstrate” advantages and disadvantages of Whatley’s approach. It describes Whatley’s approach and its potential advantages, but there’s no actual “demonstration” of advantages or of any disadvantages.
e
analyzing the impact ██ █ ███ ████ ██ █ ████████████████ ████████
The passage doesn’t analyze the impact of Whatley’s approach. It presents the approach, but we don’t know about its impact. It’s not even clear any small farms have actually adopted his approach.