College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics

Bio-Info

Biographical Information

• Schweikhardt Obituary 
• Schweikhardt  Memorial CANR/AFRE

Professor David Schweikhardt specialized in agricultural policy, trade policy and law in the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics at Michigan State University. He was appointed in the tenure system at MSU and was also an Extension Agricultural Economist . A native of Indiana, he received a Bachelor of Science degree with Highest Distinction in agricultural economics from Purdue University in 1980, a Master of Science in agricultural economics from Michigan State University in 1983, and a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from Michigan State in 1989. He received a law degree from Michigan State in 2004 and is a member of the State Bar of Michigan.

From 1988 to 1992, he was an Assistant Professor of agricultural economics at Mississippi State University. His teaching responsibilities included courses in agricultural policy and international trade policy. His research and extension work has focused on agricultural and trade policy, including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and all U.S. farm bills since 1990.

Research and Outreach Interests

• Implications of NAFTA and Uruguay Round Agreement of GATT on U.S. and Michigan agriculture
• Analysis of U.S. commodity programs
• Law, economics, and the analysis of changes in legal/economic institutions
• Political economy of agricultural and trade policy decision making processes
• Legal issues in commodity checkoff programs
• Labeling of GMO food products
• Legal issues involving wind and natural gas leases
• Economics of health care

Students

Student Mentoring

• View theses and dissertations written by Dr. Schweikhardt’s advisees 

Teaching Experience

• AEC 810: Institutional and Behavioral Economics (200x to present/Fall Semesters)
• AEC 817: Political Economics of Ag. and Trade Policy (200x to present/Fall Semesters)

Research Impact

• RePEc (Log Ec) Access Statistics
• MSU Scholar - Legacy Profile 
• AgEcon Search Publications

Publications

All Publications (View all Schweikhardt ’s publications on AgEconSearch, and on RePEc.

Selected Publications

David B. Schweikhardt and Monika Tothova. “Major Issues for Future Commercial Integration: Harmonization of Agricultural and Trade Policies.” In Agricultural Trade Under CUSTA, edited by Won W. Koo and William W. Wilson. Hauppage, NY: 2002, pp. 211-32.

David Schweikhardt, Kelly Cormier, Eric Knepper and Juan Valle-Estrada. “Collision Course: The Looming Contradictions of U.S. Sugar Policy.” Choices, 3rd Quarter 2001, pp. 26-29.

David B. Schweikhardt and William P. Browne. “Politics by Other Means: The Emergence of a New Politics of Food in the United States.” Review of Agricultural Economics. 23:2 (2001) 302-18.

James T. Bonnen, William P. Browne, Jan E. Mabie, and David B. Schweikhardt. “Fits of Analysis: Good Ones and Bad Ones in Agriculture’s Public Sector.” Agricultural History. Vol. 74, No, 2, Spring 2000, 181-97.

David B. Schweikhardt. “Agricultural Issues in the U.S.-Canadian Free Trade Agreement.” In The U.S.-Canadian Free Trade Agreement: The Record After Ten Years, edited by Mordechai E. Kreinin. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2000.

David B. Schweikhardt and Bert Greenwalt. “Market Coordination in the U.S. Rice Industry: Firm Responses to Changing Demands for Product Quality.” In Vertical Relationships and Coordination in the Food System, edited by Giovanni Galizzi and Luciano Venturini. New York: Physica-Verlag, 1999, pp. 629-41.

James T. Bonnen and David B. Schweikhardt. “Getting From Economic Analysis to Policy Advice.” Review of Agricultural Economics. 20 (1998): 582-601.

James T. Bonnen and David B. Schweikhardt. “The Future of U.S. Agricultural Policy: Reflections on the Disappearance of the ‘Farm Problem.’” Review of Agricultural Economics. 20: (1998): 2-35.

Presentations

Recent Research and Policy Presentation Videos

• Forget about a new Farm Bill clearing the halls of Congress in 2017. Michigan State University Ag Economist, Dr. Dave Schweikhardt predicts 2017 will be needed to complete the transition to a Trump Administration within USDA.  Published on Nov 16, 2016,  Michigan Farm Bureau
• Immigration Reform, long considered a political hot potato, “…is now owned by the Republican Party,” thanks to the Trump campaign’s focus on the issue, says Michigan State University Ag Economist, Dr. Dave Schweikhardt.  Published on Nov 16, 2016,  Michigan Farm  Bureau
• The U.S. Farm Bill: Past, Present, and Future Issues - August 20th, 2013. Host: Dr. B. James Deaton, Dept. Of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics (FARE), University of Guelph Interviewee: Dr. David Schweikhardt Professor of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics at Michigan State University.

Recent Research and Policy Presentations

• Figuring out risk insurance under the 2014 Farm Bill - News story on Schweikhardt’s work with FIRM team - 2016.
• How the Farm Bill impacts all of us. Michigan Radio interviews Dr. David Schweikhardt, 2013.
• 2013 Farm Bill Debate. Background story on Professor Schweikhardts work on policy and farm bills.