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| Economically speaking, you should care about the long run as long as "caring" is capitalized into asset value. For example, even if you're going to sell out your farm land next year because of retirement etc., you might still keep up soil fertility, waterways, no-till programs etc. Why? Because you believe such investments today will help the land bring more money next year when it sells. Of course, what and how much things are actually capitalized into land value (or machine value for that matter) is the subject of much debate among farmers. Moreover, that might have been your question and I simply missed it.
From a personal perspective, I agree with Tom Russell's comment.
Of course, caring about the long run has many nuances. As merely an example, think of a dairyman milking 60 cows who knows he is retiring and selling the cows in 3 years. Should he "keep up" the dairy parlor beyond simple daily maintenance? Not if he thinks the dairy parlor will never again be used to milk cows after he retires. This creates a dilemma for many folks as they watch many of their assets deteriorate more than they historically would have liked, but yet know it to be the economically appropriate way to handle such things. Obviously, "caring about the long run" has more than economic implications.
Terry Kastens, ag economics, Kansas State University
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"Long run" and the life of an operation
