Farm Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are hosting a two-day, virtual conference on Tuesday, March 5th and Wednesday, March 6th, 2024,  focused on diversity and agricultural policy.

The design, implementation, and evaluation of agricultural policy serves a landscape of diverse farms and farmers who each face different opportunities and challenges. Farm operations vary across key characteristics including commodities produced, farm size, geography, and soil characteristics among many others. At the same time, farmers themselves are as diverse as the farms they operate. Farmers vary across multiple dimensions including, but not limited to, educational backgrounds, race, ethnicity, gender, farming experience, and income levels. There is a critical need to better understand how the diversity of both farms and operators interact to affect engagement with and outcomes from agricultural policy.

Our understanding about issues surrounding equity and inclusion in agricultural programs is currently limited. This includes how different farmer characteristics interact with agricultural policy to shape producer enrollment and participation in government programs, the allocation of resources for producer support, program access and eligibility, as well as evaluation and reform.

We invite submission of research papers at the intersection of agricultural policy, economics, and the diverse characteristics of U.S. farms and farmers. While submissions from all methodological approaches are welcome, we encourage submissions of papers taking an empirical approach to these issues. The papers can be based on new research or can revisit previously analyzed data with a new focus on the themes of this conference. Submissions from researchers and students from minority-serving institutions are especially encouraged.

Through a mix of panel discussions and paper presentations, the goal of this conference is to: 

• Expand on the existing knowledge base of how diversity in U.S. agriculture, both of farmers and farm operations, interacts with agricultural policy
• Initiate discussion on farmer equity and inclusion in U.S. agricultural policy
• To better understand data available to explore these linkages, as well as identify data gaps
• Foster networks of researchers, policymakers, and industry professionals working on these issues

The deadline for submissions for consideration for this conference is Thursday, February 1, 2024.  Decisions will be made and submitters will be notified of submission status by Tuesday, February 6, 2024.