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Agriculture, Economics and Nature
  • Level Foundation
  • المدة 17 ساعات hours
  • الطبع بواسطة University of Western Australia
  • Offered by

عن

Sound economic thinking is crucial for farmers because they depend on good economic decision making to survive. Governments depend on economic information to make good policy decisions on behalf of the community. This course will help you to contribute to better decision making by farmers, or by agencies servicing agriculture, and it will help you to understand why farmers respond to policies and economic opportunities in the ways they do. You can use this course to improve your skills and knowledge and to assess whether this is a subject that you'd like to study further. The course includes high-quality video lectures, interviews with experts, demonstrations of how to build economic models in spreadsheets, practice quizzes, and a range of recommended readings and optional readings. Assessment is by quizzes and a final exam. The key economic principles that we’ll learn about can help us understand changes that have occurred in agriculture, and support improved decision making about things like agricultural production methods, agricultural input levels, resource conservation, and the balance between agricultural production and its environmental impacts. There are literally thousands of agricultural economists around the world who work on these issues, so there is a wealth of knowledge to draw on for the course. Watch a brief video about our course here: https://youtu.be/Y8OGswUXx48

الوحدات

Segment 1 - Course introduction

    • 1 Videos
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Course introduction

Segment 2 - History of agricultural production and prices

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - History of agricultural production and prices

1 Readings

  • Optional Viewing - The Agricultural Revolution: Crash Course World History #1

Segment 3 - Agricultural products’ supply

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Agricultural products' supply

1 Readings

  • Optional Reading - Economics Basics: Supply and Demand

Segment 4 - Agricultural products’ demand

    • 1 Videos
    • 2 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Agricultural products' demand

2 Readings

  • Recommended Reading - Pannell Discussion 266: Supply and Demand: The Wool Crisis
  • Recommended Reading - Pannell Discussions 178: Betting on Wheat Prices

Segment 5 - The 2007 food price crisis

    • 1 Videos
    • 4 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - The 2007 food price crisis

4 Readings

  • Recommended Reading - Pannell Discussions 284: The world food price crisis of 2007
  • Optional Viewing - The Corn Controversy: Food or Fuel
  • Optional Reading - The Food Price Crisis of 2007/2008: Evidence and Implications
  • Optional Reading - Causes of the 2007-2008 global food crisis identified

Segment 6 - Food security

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
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1 Videos

  • Video - Food security

1 Readings

  • Optional Reading - The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World

Segment 7 - Resource usage 1: Land and soils

    • 1 Videos
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1 Videos

  • Video - Resource usage 1: Land and soils

Segment 8 - Resource usage 2: Water

    • 1 Videos
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1 Videos

  • Video - Resource usage 2: Water

Segment 9 - Resource usage 3: Nutrients

    • 1 Videos
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1 Videos

  • Video - Resource usage 3: Nutrients

Segment 10 - Resource usage 4: Pesticides

    • 1 Videos
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1 Videos

  • Video - Resource usage 4: Pesticides

Interview - Kadambot Siddique, Institute of Agriculture, University of Western Australia

    • 1 Videos
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1 Videos

  • Video - Interview - Kadambot Siddique, Institute of Agriculture, University of Western Australia

Quiz 1

    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Quiz - Agricultural production and prices, and agriculture’s reliance on natural resources

Segment 1 - Water pollution

    • 1 Videos
    • 2 Readings
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1 Videos

  • Video - Water pollution

2 Readings

  • Recommended Reading - Pannell Discussion 261: Agricultural water pollution
  • Optional Reading - Protecting Water Quality from Agricultural Runoff

Segment 2 - Pesticide bans

    • 1 Videos
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1 Videos

  • Video - Pesticide bans

Segment 3 - Dryland salinity

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Dryland salinity

1 Readings

  • Optional Reading - Pannell Discussion 26: Dryland salinity in Australia

Segment 4 - Resource exhaustibility: phosphorus supply

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Resource exhaustibility: phosphorus supply

1 Readings

  • Optional Reading - Phosphorus: Essential to Life – Are we running out?

Segment 5 - Resource exhaustibility: water shortages

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Resource exhaustibility: water shortages

1 Readings

  • Optional Reading - Can Australia overcome its Water Scarcity Problems?

Segment 6 - Resource exhaustibility: herbicide resistance

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
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1 Videos

  • Video - Resource exhaustibility: herbicide resistance

1 Readings

  • Optional Reading - Pannell Discussion 57: Herbicide resistance: Does prevention pay?

Segment 7 - Climate change

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Climate change

1 Readings

  • Optional Reading - Pannell Discussions 230: Future climate change and wheat yields in Western Australia

Segment 8 - Climate policy and adaptation

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Climate policy and adaptation

1 Readings

  • Recommended Reading - Pannell Discussions 168: Telling farmers how to adapt to climate change

Interview - Michael Robertson, CSIRO

    • 1 Videos
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1 Videos

  • Video - Interview - Michael Robertson, CSIRO

Quiz 2

    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Resource and environmental challenges facing agriculture

Segment 1 - Fertiliser

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
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1 Videos

  • Video - Fertiliser

1 Readings

  • Optional reading - world data on fertilizers

Segment 2 - Fertiliser and crop yield

    • 1 Videos
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1 Videos

  • Video - Fertiliser and Crop Yield

Segment 3 - Production functions

    • 1 Videos
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1 Videos

  • Video - Production functions

Segment 4 - Profit maximisation

    • 1 Videos
    • 2 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Profit maximisation

2 Readings

  • Recommended Reading - Pannell Discussion 277: Perfection isn’t best
  • Optional Reading - Determining Optimum Nitrogen Application Rates for Corn

Segment 5 - Building a spreadsheet to maximise profit

    • 1 Videos
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1 Videos

  • Video - Building a spreadsheet to maximise profit

Segment 6 - Effects of price and yield changes on optimal fertiliser use

    • 1 Videos
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1 Videos

  • Video - Effects of price and yield changes on optimal fertiliser use

Segment 7 - Considering pollution in input decisions

    • 1 Videos
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1 Videos

  • Video - Considering pollution in input decisions

Segment 8 - Flat payoff functions

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Flat payoff functions

1 Readings

  • Recommended Reading - Pannell Discussions 88: Flat-earth economics

Interview - David Brown, Farmer, Burracoppin, Western Australia

    • 1 Videos
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Interview - David Brown, Farmer, Burracoppin, Western Australia

Quiz 3

    • 1 Assignment
Show info about module content

1 Assignment

  • The economics of agricultural inputs

Segment 1 - Resource conservation in farming

    • 1 Videos
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1 Videos

  • Video - Resource conservation in farming

Segment 2 - Benefits and costs of resource conservation over time

    • 1 Videos
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1 Videos

  • Video - Benefits and costs of resource conservation over time

Segment 3 - Accounting for time

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Accounting for time

1 Readings

  • Recommended Reading - Pannell Discussions 33: Time is money

Segment 4 - Discounting

    • 1 Videos
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1 Videos

  • Video - Discounting

Segment 5 - Building a spreadsheet for discounting benefits and costs

    • 1 Videos
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Building a spreadsheet for discounting benefits and costs

Segment 6 - Case study: conservation agriculture

    • 1 Videos
    • 2 Readings
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1 Videos

  • Video - Case study: conservation agriculture

2 Readings

  • Recommended Reading - Pannell Discussions 268: Conservation Agriculture in Developing Countries
  • Optional Reading - The farm-level economics of conservation agriculture for resource-poor farmers.

Segment 7 - Drivers of farmers’ decision-making

    • 1 Videos
    • 2 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Drivers of farmers’ decision-making

2 Readings

  • Recommended Reading - Adoption of conservation practices by rural landholders
  • Optional Reading - Pannell Discussions 203: Predicting adoption of new farming practices

Interview - Mike McFarlane, farmer, Doodlakine, Western Australia

    • 1 Videos
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1 Videos

  • Video - Interview - Mike McFarlane, farmer, Doodlakine, Western Australia

Interview - Greg Shea, WA Department of Agriculture and Food

    • 1 Videos
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1 Videos

  • Video - Interview - Greg Shea, WA Department of Agriculture and Food

Quiz 4

    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
Show info about module content

1 Assignment

  • The economics of land conservation

1 Readings

  • Help with the calculations for Week 4 Quiz

Segment 1 - Environmental projects in agriculture

    • 1 Videos
    • 2 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Environmental projects in agriculture

2 Readings

  • Optional Viewing - A cleaner Baltic Sea by improved agricultural productivity
  • Optional Viewing - Positive benefits flow from agri-environment funding support in Scotland

Segment 2 - Extending economics beyond the farm

    • 1 Videos
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1 Videos

  • Video - Extending economics beyond the farm

Segment 3 - Characteristics of environmental projects

    • 1 Videos
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1 Videos

  • Video - Characteristics of environmental projects

Segment 4 - Benefit: Cost Analysis

    • 1 Videos
    • 2 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Benefit: Cost Analysis

2 Readings

  • Recommended Viewing - Intro to Cost-Benefit Analysis
  • Optional Reading - Simple Introduction to Cost-Benefit Analysis

Segment 5 - Benefit: Cost Ratio

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Benefit: Cost Ratio

1 Readings

  • Recommended Reading - When ranking environmental projects, mixing a little theory, logic and common sense leads to better outcomes

Segment 6 - Case study: The Gippsland Lakes

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Case study: The Gippsland Lakes

1 Readings

  • Recommended Reading - Pannell Discussion 182: Increasing marginal costs of environmental projects

Segment 7 - A helpful tool: INFFER

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - A helpful tool: INFFER

1 Readings

  • Optional Reading - INFFER (Investment Framework for Environmental Resources)

Interview - Marit Kragt, School of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Western Australia

    • 1 Videos
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Interview - Marit Kragt, School of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Western Australia

Quiz 5

    • 1 Assignment
Show info about module content

1 Assignment

  • The economics of agri-environmental projects

Segment 1 - Government policies in agriculture

    • 1 Videos
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Government policies in agriculture

Segment 2 - Policies to support agricultural production

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Policies to support agricultural production

1 Readings

  • Optional Viewing - Fields of Gold: Lifting the Veil on Europe's Farm Subsidies

Segment 3 - Policies for environmental protection in agriculture

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Policies for environmental protection in agriculture

1 Readings

  • Optional Reading - Pannell Discussions 259: Increasing environmental benefits

Segment 4 - Agricultural policy problems: Price support

    • 1 Videos
    • 2 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Agricultural policy problems: Price support

2 Readings

  • Recommended Reading - Pannell Discussion 266: Supply and Demand: The Wool Crisis
  • Recommended Reading - Severing the Link between Farm Program Payments and Farm Production: Motivation, International Efforts, and Lessons

Segment 5 - Agricultural policy problems: Biofuels

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Agricultural policy problems: Biofuels

1 Readings

  • Optional Reading - The Trouble with Biofuels: Costs and Consequences of Expanding Biofuel Use in the United Kingdom

Segment 6 - Justifications for agricultural policy

    • 1 Videos
    • 2 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Videos

  • Video - Justifications for agricultural policy

2 Readings

  • Optional Reading - Pannell Discussions 22: Public goods and public benefits in NRM
  • Optional Reading - Pannell Discussions 35: Externalities and market failure

Segment 7 - Course wrap-up

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
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1 Videos

  • Video - Course wrap-up

1 Readings

  • Further information on studying agricultural economics, natural resource economics or environmental economics at the University of Western Australia

Interview - Ross Kingwell, Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre

    • 1 Videos
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1 Videos

  • Video - Interview - Ross Kingwell, Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre

Quiz 6

    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Government policies in agriculture

Final Exam

    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Final Exam

Auto Summary

Discover the "Agriculture, Economics and Nature" course, an essential foundation in Business & Management by Coursera, led by expert instructors. This course empowers you with crucial economic principles for better decision-making in agriculture, covering topics like production methods, resource conservation, and policy impacts. Engage with high-quality video lectures, expert interviews, and practical exercises over 1020 minutes. Ideal for aspiring agricultural economists, it offers both Starter and Professional subscription options. Enhance your understanding and skills, and explore further studies in this vital field.

Professor David Pannell, BSc(Agric), BEc, PhD
Instructor

Professor David Pannell, BSc(Agric), BEc, PhD