Florida is the biggest sugar-producing state, but Michigan and Minnesota are home to thousands of sugar beet growers. Sugar prices in the United States average about 20¢ per pound, or more than double the world-wide average of less than 10¢ per pound given import quotas that restrict imports to about 15% of the U. S. market. Still, the industry is perfectly competitive for U. S. growers who take the market price of 20¢ as fixed. Thus, P = MR = 20¢ in the U. S. sugar market. Assume that a typical sugar grower has fixed costs of $45,000 per year. Total variable cost (TVC) for the typical farmer is: where q is pounds of sugar, total costs include a normal profit. a. Calculate the profit-maximizing short-run supply curve for a typical grower and determine the quantity that a typical grower will supply under the prevailing average market price. b. Calculate the average variable cost curve for a typical grower and verify that average variable costs are less than price at this optimal activity level.