Wisconsin Ag Connection - Bruce Jones to Head UW-Madison Agribusiness Institute

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Bruce Jones to Head UW-Madison Agribusiness Institute
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 01/05/2012

Long-time University of Wisconsin-Madison Ag Economist Bruce Jones will have a little more responsibility going into the new year. He has been named the new director of the school's Renk Agribusiness Institute, which coordinates UW-Madison agribusiness teaching, research and outreach activities.

Jones says the program also provides financial assistance to students pursuing agribusiness degrees and offers professional development programs for agribusiness executives.

"Our goal is to increase the management capacity of people who are choosing agriculture as a career," Jones says. "We want them to understand economics and management principals and how those might be applied to agribusiness."

The institute also aims to reach out to students who are interested in agriculture, but haven't thought about the business component.

"Agriculture is one of the few sectors of the economy that's seeing some prosperity and profitability at present," he adds. "And some of the strongest growth in the ag economy is happening in the Midwest and upper Midwest. That's certainly true in Wisconsin."

The Renk Agribusiness Institute originated with a gift from Renk family of Sun Prairie. It is based in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and draws on the expertise of faculty from across campus.

Jones has been on the faculty of the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics since 1984, specializing in agricultural finance, farm management and agricultural policy. He holds a B.S. degree in accounting, as well as M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in agricultural economics from the University of Illinois-Urbana.

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