There are many variations around the same theme but, in general, this is the easiest way to think about the resources that the farm has to manipulate. Similar to most everything else the deeper you delve, the more murky things become. The question of resource availability is really one of acquiring the use of the resource. There are many examples of this distinction. This consideration isn t intended to confuse the issue but to illustrate impacts of one of the changes that have occurred and will continue to occur with more frequency in production agriculture.
Farmers rely more and more on the external inputs.
This has resulted in increased output but it has also resulted in increased costs. Gross farm income in Iowa has increased by 5.74 times since 1950 but net farm income has only increased by 3.76 times over the same period. In the 1950s net farm income as percent of the gross averaged 34 percent with or without government payments. Over the past decade this percentage dropped to 21 percent or 12 percent if we do not include government payments in either the gross or net farm income. This illustrates the increased costs that are associated with the production methods that are widely used today.