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What does an agricultural economist do?

Updated January 8, 2025
5 min read

An agricultural economist works in production and logistics in the farming industry. Their main task is to organize systems to make procedures efficient and cost-effective. In the agricultural sector, economists are vital, as they help determine how to manage limited resources to get the maximum profit. An agricultural economist must have profound knowledge of agriculture and know strategies to improve an agriculture-based company's yield and profit.

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Agricultural economist responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real agricultural economist resumes:

  • Manage, utilize, and archive database for commodities in assign areas.
  • Analyze banking/economic data and advise senior FDIC officials on potential risk to financial institutions.
  • Develop, specify, and test econometric models using time-series econometrics, panel-data econometrics, and limit dependent variable techniques.
  • Support the competition peer review, in which OECD analyzes the competition policy in Colombia and formulates some policy recommendations.

Agricultural economist skills and personality traits

We calculated that 23% of Agricultural Economists are proficient in Economic Analysis, USDA, and Economic Data. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Speaking skills, and Writing skills.

We break down the percentage of Agricultural Economists that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Economic Analysis, 23%

    Assist researchers in performing economic analysis on a variety of issues related to the agriculture sector.

  • USDA, 15%

    Composed and presented a final report to USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service assessing international employment situations.

  • Economic Data, 13%

    Developed a policy controlling economic data and materials for Field Office Technical Guides.

  • SQL, 10%

    Utilized a combination of SQL querying and qualitative research to investigate results gained from statistical analyses.

  • Market Analysis, 7%

    Create a market analysis work flow for the natural gas and oil markets in Louisiana.

  • SAS, 7%

    Prepare documentations/specifications to support the SAS codes for other statistical programmers to follow.

"economic analysis," "usda," and "economic data" are among the most common skills that agricultural economists use at work. You can find even more agricultural economist responsibilities below, including:

Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for an agricultural economist to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "economists must be able to review data and observe patterns to draw logical conclusions." Agricultural economists often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "provided staff analysis to the secretary of agriculture. "

Most common agricultural economist skills

The three companies that hire the most agricultural economists are:

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Compare different agricultural economists

Agricultural economist vs. Economic development internship

An economic development intern is responsible for supporting an organization's market performance, analyzing trends in the industry, and strategizing techniques to improve business services. Economic development interns perform administrative duties under the supervision of tenured staff and managers. They compile business and financial reports, update information on the database, respond to clients' inquiries and concerns, escalate complaints, and schedule appointments. An economic development intern may also assist in facilitating economic programs and other initiative developments.

The annual salary of economic development interns is $33,720 lower than the average salary of agricultural economists.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between agricultural economists and economic development interns are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like economic analysis, economic data, and sql.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an agricultural economist are more likely to require skills like "usda," "agricultural economics," "commodities," and "on-farm." On the other hand, a job as an economic development internship requires skills like "stata," "econometrics," "powerpoint," and "first hand." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

The education levels that economic development interns earn slightly differ from agricultural economists. In particular, economic development interns are 26.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than an agricultural economist. Additionally, they're 3.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Agricultural economist vs. Economic developer

While a development specialist works on creating plans for community development, the economic developer helps implement the development strategies set forth by specialists. They help in the distribution of survey questionnaires and the collection of data, as well as the interpretation of results. The economic developer also helps in business creation, retention, and expansion. They take leads in developing a private sector-public relationship in terms of funding for project implementation. They are knowledgeable and have good communication skills.

Economic developer positions earn lower pay than agricultural economist roles. They earn a $20,412 lower salary than agricultural economists per year.A few skills overlap for agricultural economists and economic developers. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "usda," "economic data," and "technical assistance. "

Each career also uses different skills, according to real agricultural economist resumes. While agricultural economist responsibilities can utilize skills like "economic analysis," "agricultural economics," "sql," and "market analysis," economic developers use skills like "data entry," "financial statements," "business community," and "business plan."

In general, economic developers achieve lower levels of education than agricultural economists. They're 20.1% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 3.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Agricultural economist vs. Economist research assistant

An average economist research assistant eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of agricultural economists. The difference in salaries amounts to economist research assistants earning a $50,643 higher average salary than agricultural economists.Using the responsibilities included on agricultural economists and economist research assistants resumes, we found that both professions have similar skill requirements, such as "economic analysis," "economic data," and "sas.rdquo;

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, agricultural economists are more likely to have skills like "usda," "agricultural economics," "sql," and "market analysis." But a economist research assistant is more likely to have skills like "research projects," "r," "macro," and "statistical analysis."

When it comes to education, economist research assistants tend to earn lower degree levels compared to agricultural economists. In fact, they're 13.5% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 3.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Agricultural economist vs. Econometrician

Econometricians average a higher salary than the annual salary of agricultural economists. The difference is about $14,043 per year.Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. An agricultural economist uses "economic analysis," "usda," "economic data," and "agricultural economics." Econometricians are more likely to have duties that require skills in "r," "regression," "conference calls," and "powerpoint. "In general, econometricians hold higher degree levels compared to agricultural economists. Econometricians are 10.2% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 12.5% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of agricultural economist

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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