Question: 1. The article poses the question: So why do farmers put up with the hassle? And then answers it: They simply don't have a choice.

1. The article poses the question: "So why do farmers put up with the hassle?" And then answers it: "They simply don't have a choice. The demand for this one apple exceeds supplyit's all consumers, and therefore supermarkets, want."

Do growers, in fact, have a choice here? If so, why would they CHOOSE to grow Honeycrisp when it is more difficult and expensive than other varieties? What could possibly induce them to do this? Furthermore, considering that the Honeycrisp almost always seems to be available at the grocery store, is it right to say that demand exceeds supply? (Is this ever right?) Supposing quantity demanded exceeds quantity supplied, what would we expect to happen?

2. What region of the country seems to have a comparative advantage in growing Honeycrisp and what region doesn't? Cite a sentence or two in the article that indicates this.

3. The article claims that "Meanwhile, everyone is nervously waiting for the day when the supply-demand equilibrium brings sticker prices down far enough that growing the Honeycrisp no longer makes economic sense."

If quantity demanded exceeds quantity supplied (as they seem to have said previously--even though they erroneously called them demand and supply......) should we expect the supply-demand equilibrium to bring sticker prices down? (I already asked you this question but I kinda want to emphasize it.) More importantly, should we expect the supply-demand equilibrium to result in a price such that "growing the Honeycrisp no longer makes economic sense?" Even more importantly, is the answer to whether or not it "makes economic sense" the same for everyone? Why or why not? What would need to happen in order for prices to fall to a level where growing it did not make economic sense for anyone? Show this on a graph.

4. This sentence explains what they actually have in mind when they say the confused thing above: "Even though production is increasing at a rapid pace, demand for premium apples isn't waning. Retail prices, though slightly lower than last year's, have stayed at appealing heights for farmers and probably won't sink in the foreseeable future, he said."

How could you represent what is being described here on a supply/demand graph? Show it. (There are two ways you could think about this that kinda make sense but give me the one that is consistent with "retail prices slightly lower.") They say "demand......isn't waning." Should one expect an increase in production to cause demand to wane (decrease)? What do they probably mean by this?

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