Biography

Background

I am Dr. Jeffrey Young, assistant professor of Agribusiness Economics at Murray State University's Hutson School of Agriculture. In addition to teaching and research, I serve as the Chief Economist for the Murray State University Center for Agricultural Hemp, and as editor for the Journal of Agricultural Hemp Research.

I graduated in 2013 from Murray State University with a BS in Theoretical Mathematics and a minor in Agricultural Science, in 2014 from Purdue University with an MS in Agricultural Economics, and in 2018 from Purdue University with a PhD in Agricultural Economics with a triple area in econometrics, health economics, and industrial organization.

Outside of academia, I work part-time in the summers on the Young family farm in Western Kentucky, and model US crop yields and write blog posts as a Research Economist at Agricultural Economic Insights.

Research Interest

My research interests lean towards applied food & agricultural economic problems. I also dabble in more technical spheres, specifically econometric methods and social network diffusion.

Traditionally, my work is more microeconomic in nature. I usually seek out econometrically-motivated problems over optimization or theory.

Teaching Specialty

The classes I teach regularly tend to be more technical, relative to many of MSU's other agriculture science classes. These range from Ag Finance to Introductory Econometrics, both at the senior and graduate levels.

A typical semester has me teaching both in-person and online classes, ranging from 12-18 credit hours (4 to 6 classes in total) with approximately 20-30 students per class. In-person instruction includes traditional lecture, guided labs, experiential learning, and group discussions.

Extension & Engagement Activity

Apart from teaching and scholarly research, my work partners with agribusinesses, farms, other universities, law firms, and others.

I have contracted with private firms to analyze commodity markets, crop production, and related agricultural problems since 2019. I also work independently through expert networks (ProSapient, Atheneum, GLG, and Guidepoint) for phone consultations and strategic analyses, both domestically and internationally.

Part of my extracurricular extension duties at Murray State University include supporting farmers within our service region by answering economic, marketing, management, and financial questions, as well as contributing to any field days and promotion tours. One of my main outlets for this activity is via Agricultural Economic Insights, where I publish blogs and articles, forecast crop yields throughout the growing season, analyze futures price patterns, and deliver reports on agricultural markets.

I also work quite a bit in industry engagement, in which MSU or a partnering institution has been approached by an ag input supplier, retailer, or manufacturer with a persistent high-stakes problem facing their company. All faculty involved (at MSU and elsewhere) meet with key decisionmakers at the firm and develop a size and scope of the study required to analyze and address the business problem. Results are presented to stakeholders (e.g. executives, board of directors, investors, managers) after which we discuss next steps and answer any questions. After the embargo on the study expires (typically 6-18 months), we disseminate the research at academic conferences and/or in peer-review journals. The ideal business problem the team and I take on would have high value for the food & agriculture industry, be tractable within our respective skillsets, prove suitable for a graduate student thesis, and have the potential to publish in a high impact scholarly journal.