Kansas farms prioritize profit over cost, impacting agricultural sustainability.
The article examines how 289 Kansas farms make decisions to maximize profits and minimize costs. Tests show that most farms do not strictly follow these optimization goals. Specifically, all farms fail to maximize profits, and many also fail to minimize costs. Even when considering technical changes, most farms still do not meet profit or cost goals. Overall, the evidence against cost-minimization behavior is weaker than against profit-maximization behavior.