The Impact of Applied Research in Agriculture and Applied Economics on The U.S. Economy
The Impact of Applied Research in Agriculture and Applied Economics on The U.S. Economy

Today's farmers produce 262 percent more food with two percent fewer inputs as compared to 1950. A significant component of this increase in agricultural productivity is due to large investments in public agricultural research. The importance of research in agricultural and applied economics has only heightened as the population increases.

To give an example, for many years crop insurance in the U.S. was plagued by poor actuarial experience due to a lack of knowledge in regard to farming and agriculture. Agricultural economists were asked to tackle the issues that made crop insurance difficult and unaffordable. In many cases, the proposed solutions provided by agricultural and applied economists were adopted by the USDA. Today the crop insurance market is almost a $4 billion per year industry and sells $1 billion per year of index insurance. By improving access to quality crop insurance agricultural economists were able to help provide farmers with increased financial stability. This is a prime example of the value agricultural and applied economic research provide to the U.S. economy.

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Guest User2021 Webinar
Economic Perspectives on Wildfire — Preparation, Property and Health
Economic Perspectives on Wildfire — Preparation, Property and Health

The threat of wildfires has become an increasingly large challenge faced by many Americans and as of October 1, over 44,000 wildfires have burned nearly 7.7 million acres in the United States this year. This growing threat is in part due to increasing temperatures and changing weather conditions that are making the fires far more difficult to control and easier to spread.

To further our understanding of these issues, C-FARE is joining forces with the Association of Environmental and Resource Economics (AERE) to host a panel titled Economic Perspectives on Wildfire: Preparation, Property, and Health on November 16th, at 12 pm. AERE President-elect and Resources for the Future Senior Fellow, Karen Palmer, will moderate the discussion. She will be joined by three expert panelists.

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Guest User2020 Webinar
High-Speed Internet in the Heartland — The Challenges and Opportunities of Rural Broadband
High-Speed Internet in the Heartland — The Challenges and Opportunities of Rural Broadband

The Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics (C-FARE) hosted a free webinar on October 16th, 2020 to consider the challenges and opportunities facing increased broadband access in rural America. This event was moderated by C-FARE’s past president Roger Coupal.

With Americans becoming more reliant than ever on broadband due to the pandemic and an expectation to be able to compete with the larger market that is now accessible via the internet, broadband inequities are becoming more and more obvious.

Panelists Alexander Marre (Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond), John Pender (USDA ERS), Anne Read (The Pew Charitable Trusts), and Mike Malandro (Choptank Electric Cooperative) discuss their on-going research into rural broadband-related issues and potential ways we could adapt our current infrastructure to create increase broadband access.

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Guest User2020 Webinar