AFCERC GOAL AND OBJECTIVES
The primary research goal is to enhance the flow and quality of information along the farm-to-consumer market channel to improve decision-making and enhance the competitive position of our clients in national and global markets.
Specific areas of research emphasis
- Agricultural input and commodity markets
- Agricultural, food, and fiber marketing and distribution
- Supply chain management and analysis
- Strategic management and planning
- Pricing strategies and the price discovery process
- Generic and branded advertising/promotion programs
- Concentration and industrialization
- Globalization, international trade, and trade policy
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Consumer economics and behavior
- Health and nutrition economics
- Food sector and environmental/resource issues
- Food safety economics
Specific AFCERC research objectives
- State-of-the-art qualitative and empirical analyses in each area of research emphasis consistent with two of the five AgriLife Grand Challenges: “Growing Our Economy” and “Improving Our Health”.
- Objective inferences, forecasts, and research result reporting to insure accurate intelligence, free of partisan bias, for optimum decision-making.
- High-quality, peer-reviewed research reports written to enhance the understanding of lay readers.
- Educational outreach programs to empower our clients and enhance their decision-making skills.
- Dissemination of research results to agricultural producers and processors, commodity organizations, rural communities, food industries, government agencies, and other researchers through various reports, conferences, seminars, symposia, popular press articles, and academic journal publications to enhance strategic decision-making all along the food supply chain.