Welcome to the website of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology (AERS) at the University of Idaho. I am proud to showcase the department’s education, research and extension programs, with particular strengths in agribusiness, marketing, production agriculture, natural resources, and community development.

AERS has 18 faculty, including award-winning teachers, researchers and extension specialists, housed at the main campus in Moscow as well as at the Caldwell, Twin Falls, and Idaho Falls research and extension centers and the UI Boise Center. Areas of specialty include international trade, risk management, water resource management, productivity analysis, rangeland management, immigration, fisheries and seafood, natural resource sociology, community economic development, climate change, strategic business management, and invasive and endangered species. Several faculty are involved in interdisciplinary research teams on large projects funded by major grant programs addressing such important issues as effects of climate change on agricultural productivity, impacts of diseases and genetic improvements on potato production and value, and rangeland management practices on water and wildland quality.

AERS is also closely affiliated with the Social Science Research Unit on campus, a fee-for-service unit that conducts surveys for primary data collection for a variety of users across the state and region.

AERS offers B.S. programs in Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics, coupled with experiential learning opportunities outside of the classroom such as the Agribusiness Club, Farm Bureau Club, and meaningful internships. Students in our Agribusiness program have consistently placed in exciting job opportunities with small and large enterprises both within the State and around the nation. The Agricultural Economics major has prepared many students for further study in graduate school.

The Department offers an M.S. degree in Applied Economics in cooperation with the School of Economic Sciences at the Washington State University. Several past M.S. students have won prestigious awards for the quality of their thesis research. Following graduation, students have done very well in job placement and in admission to top-ranked Ph.D. programs.

I would be happy to tell you more about the exciting activities of the department and its people. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at (208) 885-7869 or email me at croheim@uidaho.edu. Or, if you are in the Moscow area, please stop by for a visit in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences building on the corner of 6th and Rayburn!

Regards,

Cathy A. Roheim
Professor and Department Head