Davison River farmers are currently deciding between planting winter

[quote="pi10t"]Which of the following most logically completes the argument below?

Davison River farmers are currently deciding between planting winter wheat this fall or spring wheat next spring. Winter wheat and spring wheat are usually about equally profitable. Because of new government restrictions on the use of Davison River water for irrigation, per acre yields for winter wheat, though not for spring wheat, would be much lower than average. Therefore, planting spring wheat will be more profitable than planting winter wheat, since_______.


(A) the smaller-than-average size of a winter wheat harvest this year would not be compensated for by higher winter wheat prices

(B) new crops of spring wheat must be planted earlier than the time at which standing crops of winter wheat are ready to be harvested

(C) the spring wheat that farmers in the Davison River region plant is well adapted to the soil of the region

(D) spring wheat has uses that are different from those of winter wheat

(E) planting spring wheat is more profitable than planting certain other crops, such as rye

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Done by POE
By CPA Analysis
Conclusion -- spring wheat will be more profitable than winter wheat
Premise --- as per acre yeild winter wheat is much lower than average

A.) Sounds convincing -- talks about sizes and costs of winter wheat-- hold on for second
B.) Out of scope -- talks about time of harvesting -- so gone
C.) Irrelevant --- Doesnt make sense talks about soil fertility-- so eliminated
D.) Irrelevant --- talks about uses of plant-- so eliminated
E.) Out of Scope --- comparing spring wheat to other crops -- Irrelevant--- so eliminated

Some of the answers in here make me want to poke my eyes out. There really needs to be some quality control on GMATClub verbal as some non-expert responses that are up-voted don't rightly justify the answers.

In saying that ^ here's my answer

We are told of a factors affecting the decision of Davison River farmers: whether to plan Spring or Winter wheat
- both are EQUALLY profitable
- However, government restrictions on the use of water would result in lower than average per acre yields of winter, not spring, wheat

We are then told that the spring wheat will be more profitable than winter wheat and are asked to come up with a premise justifying why spring wheat will be more profitable

B is incorrect because it does not provide a logical reason why spring wheat would be more profitable. If anything this serves to go against the notion that spring wheat should be planted.
C this provides a potential reason why spring wheat IN ISOLATION is likely to be more profitable, but it doesn't explain the relation to winter wheat. For this reason, C is incorrect
D is incorrect - just because something has more uses than another thing, doesn't mean that something is more profitable than the other.
E is incorrect because a comparison between the profitability of planting spring wheat and Rye doesn't serve to explain why spring is more profitable than winter wheat.

A is difficult to tie back because of the inferences we need to make.
First profit across both seeds is comparable. This means winter wheat could have a higher price, but also higher costs, than spring wheat.

E.g. Winter wheat sell price = $100 , costs = $80
Spring wheat sell price = $50, costs = $30
profit = $20 across both.

But we are told that the yields (supply) of winter wheat are going to be lower.
Hypothetical supply: 100 units of winter wheat, 1000 units of spring
$20*100 < $20* 1000

Thus, it is inferred that the lower yields (supply) can't be compensated for by higher prices.

For this reason, A is correct

It may be easier to POE Your way to A

We need to strengthen the argument by supporting it.
Conclusion : planting spring wheat will be more profitable than planting winter wheat
Premise: 1. Winter wheat and spring wheat are usually about equally profitable.
2. Due to restrictions on the use of Davison River water for irrigation, per acre yields for winter wheat would be much lower than average, but this wouldn't impact spring wheat.

Option A gives us a reason to support the argument. It says although if we plant winter wheat, it won't be able to compensate for high prices, hence could incur loss.

Therefore A.

Dear AjiteshArun DmitryFarber VeritasKarishma IanStewart MartyTargetTestPrep,

I have some problem on how to interpret choice B.
(B) new crops of spring wheat must be planted earlier than the time at which standing crops of winter wheat are ready to be harvested

According to choice B., is it possible to plant both spring and winter wheat in the same field? (Some unofficial explanation says that is not possible)

However, to my understanding, choice B. just says new crops (whether it be spring or winter wheat) will be planted together with the standing crops of winter wheat.
Choice B. seems to imply the order of the events as follows: new crops (winter or spring wheat) planted -> standing crops (winter wheat) harvested.

Is my understanding correct?

Hi varotkorn,

I don't see how we can interpret it that way. If X must be planted before Y can be harvested, it is reasonable to say that X and Y can't be planted together on the same piece of land.

VeritasKarishma

I do have a doubt regarding how it strengthens that it is profitable to invest in spring wheat. though correct ans supports the claim that it isn't profitable to invest in winter wheat. but not provided any support for why to invest for spring wheat.

Farmers deciding on winter vs spring wheat. They are usually equally profitable.
Per acre yields for winter wheat would be much lower than average due to new restrictions (though not for spring wheat. Spring wheat's yield is expected to be the same)

Conclusion: planting spring wheat will be more profitable than planting winter wheat, since_______.

We are looking for a premise that helps say why spring wheat will be more profitable than winter wheat. All we know till now is that winter wheat yield per acre will be much lower though spring wheat's yield will not be impacted. How does quantity define profit? It depends on the price. A lower quantity fetching a higher price could give higher profit. If the price is not high enough, it could lead to lower profit.

(A) the smaller-than-average size of a winter wheat harvest this year would not be compensated for by higher winter wheat prices

Tells us that the lower yield would not be compensated for by higher price so assuming a similar cost, the profit would be lower for winter wheat. Helps.

(B) new crops of spring wheat must be planted earlier than the time at which standing crops of winter wheat are ready to be harvested

The choice is between winter wheat and spring wheat. The argument itself assumes that both cannot be planted.

(C) the spring wheat that farmers in the Davison River region plant is well adapted to the soil of the region

Doesn't say that winter wheat is not well adapted and how it impacts yield/price.

(D) spring wheat has uses that are different from those of winter wheat

Uses are irrelevant. The farmer only cares about yield and price.

(E) planting spring wheat is more profitable than planting certain other crops, such as rye

Other crops are irrelevant.

Answer (A)

Note that it is all about comparable merit. Winter and spring wheat used to be equally profitable but winter wheat will get impacted while spring wheat will not. So spring wheat is expected to be more profitable than winter wheat.

Option A rules out the possibility that small per acre yield can be compensated by high price of winter wheat.

If this were not the case, same profit could have been as for spring wheat.

Hence A is our answer.

Which of the following most logically completes the argument below?

Davison River farmers are currently deciding between planting winter wheat this fall or spring wheat next spring. Winter wheat and spring wheat are usually about equally profitable. Because of new government restrictions on the use of Davison River water for irrigation, per acre yields for winter wheat, though not for spring wheat, would be much lower than average. Therefore, planting spring wheat will be more profitable than planting winter wheat, since_______.


(A) the smaller-than-average size of a winter wheat harvest this year would not be compensated for by higher winter wheat prices Correct. The yield for spring wheat would not be much lower than average, whereas the yield for winter wheat will be…and on top of that the farmers won’t be able to make up for it by raising prices…

(B) new crops of spring wheat must be planted earlier than the time at which standing crops of winter wheat are ready to be harvested
OK but this was presumably the case before and after the restrictions…so why would the spring wheat be more profitable NOW?

(C) the spring wheat that farmers in the Davison River region plant is well adapted to the soil of the region
Again this is likely to be true before and after…

(D) spring wheat has uses that are different from those of winter wheat
What does “different uses” mean? It doesn’t necessarily mean more applications and potentially greater demand for it…we cannot infer that from this choice

(E) planting spring wheat is more profitable than planting certain other crops, such as rye
Wrong comparison.

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