Staff Biographical Page: Jim Johnson

Briefly

Jim Johnson is Chief of the Farm and Rural Business Branch in the Resource and Rural Economics Division. The Branch conducts a program of economic research and analysis to address the economic and financial structure and performance of the farm sector and farm businesses, and to assess factors associated with rural economic growth. The Branch is the focal point for the USDA Farm Income and Value-Added Accounts and the Farm Balance Sheet. The Branch takes a lead role in developing the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) to support the financial accounts and to underpin research addressing farm capital structure, credit access and debt use, business organization and development, and farms' contribution to rural economies.

Current Projects

• Estimation and analysis of farm sector national income and wealth accounts and forecasts
• Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) development, coordination, and dissemination
• Farm business income, financial position and performance
• Approaches to farm organization and management

Background

Jim joined ERS in 1976 as a member of the Agricultural Policy Branch. Prior to becoming Branch Chief, Jim served as Leader of the Policy Staff Analysis Section in the Food and Agricultural Policy Branch. Jim has been Chief of the Farm and Rural Business and predecessor branches since 1982.

Education

Jim received a Ph.D. and an M.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and a B.S. degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Professional Affiliations

American Agricultural Economics Association, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, NC1014: Agricultural and Rural Finance Markets in Transition

Publications

ERS publications by this author

Johnson, J. and Mitchell Morehart. Farm Business Management, Agricultural Resources and Environmental Indicators, 2006 Edition, K. Wiebe and N. Gollehon, Editors, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Economic Information Bulletin No. (EIB-16), July 2006, pp. 89-95.

McBride, W., Johnson, J., "Defining and Characterizing Approaches to Farm Management," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Vol. 38, No. 1, April 2006, pp. 155-67.

Johnson, James D. and Mitchell J. Morehart. Measurement and Composition of Farm Household Wealth Chapter XII, The Wye Group Handbook, Rural Households Livelihood and Well-Being, Statistics on Rural Development and Agriculture Household Income, Prepared by a Task Force of the Intersecretariat Working Group on Agriculture Statistics and Rural Indicators (IWG.AgRI, UNECE, Eurostat, FAO, OECD, World Bank), September, 2005.

Mishra, A., Hisham El-Osta, J. Johnson. "Succession Decisions and Retirement Income of Farm Households." Paper presented at the Agricultural Outlook Forum 2005, Crystal City, VA. Feb 24-25.

J. Johnson and Mishra, A. "Value Added, Work Choices, and the Measurement of Income of U.S. Farm Households." Paper presented at the PACIOLI-XI Workshop in Przysiek, Poland. Oct. 4-9, 2004.

Mishra, Ashok K., Hisham S. El-Osta, Mitchell J. Morehart, James D. Johnson and Jeffrey W. Hopkins. Income, Wealth, and the Economic Well-Being of Farm Households, USDA, ERS, AER 812, July 2002.

Mishra Ashok, Hisham El-Osta, Mitchell Morehart, James Johnson and Jeffrey Hopkins. Wealth and Income Contribute Jointly to the Economic Well-Being of Farm Operator Households, Rural America, Volume 17, Issue 2, Summer 2002, pp 2-13.

Perry, Janet and James D. Johnson. "Market Access, Structure, Contracts and Prices," The 2002 Farm Bill: Policy Options and Consequences, Edited by Joe L, Outlaw and Edward G. Shmit, Oak Brook, IL: Farm Foundation, Publication No. 2001-01, September 2001.

Mishra, A., M. Morehart, H. El-Osta, J. Jonhnson, and J. Hopkins. Assessing the Economic Well-Being of Farm Households. Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Outlook, August 2002: 31-34.

Vogel, F. and J. Johnson, "Measuring Agricultural Income with the Changing Face of Agriculture," Agricultural Economic Statistics, 7th OWG-AGRI Seminar, Luxembourg, 5-7 July, 2000.

Gundersen, Craig, Mitchell Morehart, Leslie Whitener, Linda Ghelfi, James Johnson et al. A Safety Net for Farm Households, USDA, ERS, AER 788, Oct. 2000.

Mishra, Ashok K. Hisham El-Osta and James D. Johnson. "Factors Contributing to Earnings Success of Cash Grain Farms," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, 31, 3 (December 1999), pp 623-637.

El-Osta Hisham S. and James D. Johnson. Determinants of Financial Performance of Commercial Dairy Farms, USDA, ERS, Technical Bulletin 1859, July 1998.

Morehart, M., J. Perry, D. Banker, and J. Johnson, Farmers Use of Marketing and Production Contracts, USDA, ERS, AER-747, December 1996.