Chapter 58: Agricultural Economics

Patricia A. Duffy

Agricultural economics Agricultural economics is an applied field of economics that focuses primarily on food and fiber production and consumption. Defining the boundaries of agricultural economics can be difficult, however, because issues outside these traditional areas have become increasingly important to the profession in recent years. Agricultural economists engage in work ranging from farm-level cost accounting to assessing the consumer impact of food safety and nutrition labeling to analyzing worldwide agricultural trade patterns and a host of other real-world issues. Accordingly, the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA), the largest professional organization for agricultural economists in the United States, currently recognizes a variety of topic areas under the broad disciplinary umbrella, including community and rural development, food safety and nutrition, international trade, natural resources and environmental economics, consumer and household economics, markets and competition, agribusiness management, and production economics (AAEA, n.d.). Because many other topics in applied economics, including natural ...

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