433. Purdue’s Dr. Trey Malone on simplifying ag economics research, preparing for the future vs. predicting it + how consumers are behaving amid a rapidly changing food system

Convergence research: the idea of taking major agricultural themes and breaking them down into simple, digestible insights for various audiences. Necessary? Absolutely. And it’s the work that Dr. Trey Malone, Boehlje Chair in Managerial Economics for Agribusiness at Purdue University, has been doing with his team for awhile now. He brings his expertise in the studio today to dive into the intersection of entrepreneurship, policy and a massive agbioscience supply chain. Many highlights follow, including:  What the role of Boehlje Chair in Managerial Economics for Agribusiness has meant to Trey in his career and how it has scoped the work he is leading at Purdue today The realization behind convergence research and how they’ve seen it pay off in practice Pressure points Trey sees creating the most concern for the industry at large and what the economics say about how industry is responding to them The idea of “real options thinking” as less about predicting the future and more about preparing for it by placing small bets to widen your options rather than focusing on one path for success How real options thinking applies across the value chain How Trey has seen agbioscience businesses respond to the demands of the consumer and their shifting behavior over the last five years What moves the needle for consumers versus what’s mainly just perceived to be marketing The Health Halo effect, hard seltzer drinks and what they’ve taught industry about labeling, marketing and how they interact with the consumer The gap Trey sees that academic research needs to address for industry in agricultural economics Research that Trey wishes everyone had their hands on and used with regularity to drive insight and decision making What’s ahead for his time this year