Description
Conduct economic analysis of agricultural production, markets, policies, and natural resource use across crops, livestock, and food supply chains. Evaluate and quantify the benefits, costs, incentives, risks, and impacts of alternative practices, technologies, and policies using economic theory, statistical methods, and modeling.
- • Prepare and deliver presentations to communicate agricultural economic study results, policy recommendations, or implications for farms and food systems.
- • Monitor and analyze agricultural commodity markets, input costs, yields, trade, supply chain, and climate trends.
- • Interpret indicators to assess the health of the agricultural sector and natural resources, such as farm income, productivity, soil moisture, and water availability.
- • Identify and recommend sustainable, profitable farming and agribusiness practices.
- • Demonstrate the economic benefits of conservation, regenerative practices, and risk-reducing regulations in agriculture.
- • Write technical reports or academic articles on farm, market, and resource economics.
- • Write social, legal, or economic impact statements for farm bills, crop insurance, conservation, land-use, or trade policies.
- • Write research proposals and grant applications to obtain funding for agricultural economic studies.
- • Examine depletion risks of soils, aquifers, and other agricultural resources, and the long-term costs of rehabilitation.
- • Develop systems for collecting, analyzing, and interpreting farm, market, and resource data.
- • Develop agricultural research project plans, including budgets, goals, timelines, and resource requirements.
- • Develop economic models, forecasts, or scenarios for crop and livestock supply, prices, technology adoption, risk, and climate impacts.
- • Collect and analyze data to compare the economic and environmental implications of agricultural policies, technologies, or practices.
- • Perform integrated bioeconomic modeling of agroecological and market systems.
- • Conduct research on links among agricultural production, environmental outcomes, rural development, and consumption patterns.
- • Conduct research on topics such as irrigation, fertilizer and nutrient management, pest control, precision agriculture, bioenergy, organic systems, and trade.
- • Develop programs or policy recommendations to achieve agricultural productivity and environmental goals cost-effectively.
- • Assess the costs and benefits of activities, policies, or regulations affecting farms, agribusinesses, rural communities, and natural resource stocks.
- • Develop programs or policy recommendations to promote resilient, sustainable, and climate-smart agriculture.
- • Teach courses in agricultural economics.
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Last reviewed: Jan 2026
