Brandt Forum Fall 2023: Opportunities and Challenges for US Agriculture and the Environment Part II

While economists recommend using market incentives, there is the widespread use of regulation to achieve agricultural and environmental resource management objectives. One explanation the late Martin Weitzman (1974) provided is uncertainty about policy outcomes and industry behavior. The workshop raised other alternative explanations for policy choices, including:

  1. Political economy and political power affect the distribution of benefits and costs. 

  2. The desire of incumbent governments to establish irreversible outcomes given political uncertainty sets facts on the ground.

  3. Uncertainty and credit constraints constrain the establishment of new industries and supply chains. 

C-FARE organized a workshop to explain this reality using multiple vantage points, including perspectives on political economy, irreversibility, and supply chain. The workshop included two main strands of engagement across government, private, and public sector participants: 

  • The first strand will focus on the implications of science-based policy on the US economy's competitiveness and sustainability.

  • The second will discuss the dynamics of science-based policy and how it can support innovation.


Gal Hochman, Rutgers University

  • US Agriculture and Environmental Policy


Bruce A. McCarl, Texas A&M University

  • Climate Change and Agriculture: Emerging Policy Challenges in Addressing Adaption and Mitigation 


Caree Cotwright, Director of Nutrition Security and Health Equity

  • USDA’s Action on Food and Nutrition Security: The Role of Agricultural and Applied Economics


David Zilberman, University of California, Berkeley

  • The Economics of Supply Chain and Regulation


Johan Swinnen, Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute

  • Political Economy


Madhu Khanna, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  • Effect of Renewable Fuel Policies on Agriculture in the US


Richard Sexton, University of California, Davis

  • Feeding Ourselves in the 21st Century and Policies That Make it Harder to Do


Rodolgo Nayga, Texas A&M University

  • The SNAP Work Requirements


Spiro Stefanou, USDA Economic Research Service

  • The Role of Economics: Government Agencies and Regulation


Thomas Hertel, Purdue University

  • Agriculture, International Trade and Sustainability

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October 2023

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Food Hubs and Farm to School:  Policy and Impact Across the Food System