Western Agriculture farms millions of acres of land in Alpastia

Western Agriculture farms millions of acres of land in Alpastia, a wheat-farming region that receives extremely high amounts of rainfall. Western Agriculture's profit margins depend on taking advantage of the economies of scale resulting from their large holdings, so it is planning to purchase another two million acres of farmland in Alpastia. If the purchase is completed, over 70% of Western Agriculture's land would be devoted to wheat farming in Alpastia.

Which of the following, if true, could present the most serious disadvantage for Western Agriculture in purchasing an additional two million acres of farmland in Alpastia?

(A) Because of Western Agriculture's presence in Alpastia, farming an additional two million acres would require less manpower per acre than its current holdings......This is an advantage. Incorrect

(B) The price of wheat is expected to increase over the next decade..... That would increase profits. Incorrect

(C) The heavy rainfall in Alpastia limits the number of other crops that Western Agriculture could cultivate on its land......Nothing to do with other crops. Incorrect

(D) None of Western Agriculture's competitors own more than one million acres of land in Alpastia.... Irrelevant

(E) In regions with heavy rainfall, wheat yields are highly variable, resulting in inconsistent profits on wheat cultivation in such regions.....This presents a potential risk. If wheat yields result in inconsistent profit, then it is possible that profit might increase or profit might also decrease..... Correct

Answer: E

The correct answer is E.

(A) Because of Western Agriculture's presence in Alpastia, farming an additional two million acres would require less manpower per acre than its current holdings. - This would be an advantage to Western Agriculture as it will be able to reduce its costs and increase profits - Out

(B) The price of wheat is expected to increase over the next decade. - This would be an advantage to Western Agriculture as its profits will increase - Out

(C) The heavy rainfall in Alpastia limits the number of other crops that Western Agriculture could cultivate on its land. - This is irrelevant - Out


(D) None of Western Agriculture's competitors own more than one million acres of land in Alpastia. - This is irrelevant - Out

(E) In regions with heavy rainfall, wheat yields are highly variable, resulting in inconsistent profits on wheat cultivation in such regions. - This weakens the argument as even though Western Agriculture purchases an additional two million acres of land for wheat farming, it would not be able to reap consistent profits. - Keep

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

E

The phrase "present the most serious disadvantage" signals that you're dealing with a weaken question here. Everything mentioned in the passage' additional acreage, a huge amount devoted to wheat farming, economies of scale' sounds good, but there is a wild card in the passage: "extremely high amounts of rainfall." We don't know whether that's good or bad, but if it's in the passage, the GMAT expects us to pay attention to it.

Choice (A) seems to weaken the argument: it supports the "economies of scale." Less manpower per acre would seem to reduce costs, which is generally a good thing, and it is what they're aiming for.

(B) is also a positive. If wheat prices increase, Western's investment will probably pay o§.

(C) mentions the heavy rainfall, but it is out of scope; Western's plan seems to be to purchase the land for wheat farming. It doesn't matter what impact the rain would have on the company's ability to do things it doesn't plan on doing.

Choice (D) is an irrelevant comparison; presumably, Western's goal is profit, not to own more or less land than its competitors.

(E), finally, looks good. The passage tells us that the majority of Western's land will be used for wheat cultivation in a region with heavy rainfall' this choice tells us that such a strategy can have highly variable results. Choice (E) is correct.