Research by Kentucky for Kentucky

Researchers in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Kentucky conduct innovative applied research, foster long-lasting relationships with stakeholders, and prepare the next generation of agricultural economists. 

A skilled team of faculty, staff, and graduate students utilizes the latest research methods to address challenging disciplinary and interdisciplinary questions through a collegial environment that fosters creative and collaborative investigation of relevant issues impacting agriculture, the food sector, and rural communities locally, nationally, and internationally. 

Our faculty, staff, and graduate students focus on three main areas of research:

Agricultural Marketing/Consumer Behavior

This area of research focuses on almost anything involved in moving agricultural products from the farm to the consumer, whether it be local or across international boundaries. Examples include research on commodity promotion, transportation, demand and price analysis, or how taxes affect consumer demand. In particular, we have extensive experience working on analysis of crop and livestock markets, local foods, and consumer demand for food and tobacco products.

Agricultural Production Economics

Research in this area explores issues such as optimal production management decisions, profit maximizing resource allocation, economic opportunities for alternative production practices, the promise of new technologies and management strategies, production risk management, and farm finance. Areas of noteworthy research accomplishment at UK include determining optimal adaptive farm management behavior using whole farm analytical programming models, assessment of precision agriculture opportunities for increased farm profitability and reduced risk, economics of biofuel feedstock production, suitable field day prediction, and analyzing the farm-level implications of alternative farm policy and crop insurance designs.

Regional Economics & Community Development

Development economics is about understanding the mechanisms that cause some communities to prosper, while not others. In this time of unprecedented movement of ideas, tastes, people, and products, finding how communities can harness these potential forces for growth is an important and major challenge.