Todd M. Schmit

Biography

Todd Schmit's research surrounds agribusiness management and domestic agricultural economic development. The majority of his research focuses on identifying strategies to improve agribusiness performance and the consideration of agriculturally based inter-industry linkages to enhance the efficacy of policies targeted to rural development. In particular, Schmit considers how alternative management and marketing practices by agribusiness firms affect firm performance and how performance can be improved through the adoption of alternative business structures and strategies. Areas of expertise include local and regional food systems performance, cooperative business management and governance, and agricultural rural development.

Schmit's research involves analyses that not only have a disciplinary focus, but also facilitate effective outreach as a supporting role to his extension programming. The majority of his programming focuses on delivering trainings and resource materials to practitioners that develop new skill sets to improve firm performance (directed to farms, cooperatives, and other agribusinesses) and to improve the efficacy of policies and strategies targeted to rural development (directed to public policy and economic development officials).

Schmit leads two major extension programs: the Cornell Agribusiness and Rural Development Program (ARDP) and the Cornell Cooperative Enterprise Program (CEP). His efforts involve major educational programming events each year, but they also facilitate effective dissemination of his research through multiple outlets. In so doing the extension programs effectively link with and are mutually supportive to his research areas of expertise. His research is intentionally focused on extension stakeholder issues and that have practical significance and application at firm and policy levels. In this way, his research informs and is informed by his extension programming activity.

Selected Publications

• Schmit, Todd; Stamm, Richard; Severson, Roberta. "Engaged learning: Linking course instruction and extension programming"Applied Economics Teaching Resources (Online Only). 4.2 (2022): 69-83
• Yan, Minhao; Schmit, Todd; Baker, Michael; LeRoux, Matthew; Gomez, Miguel. "Sell now or later? A decision-making model for feeder cattle selling"Agricultural and Resource Economics Review. 51.2 (2022): 343-360
• Schmit, Todd; Tamarkin, Frederick; Severson, Roberta. "Differential economic impacts for cooperative business structures: An application to farmer-owned cooperatives in New York State"Research Handbook on Cooperatives and Mutuals, Ed. Matthew Elliott, Ed. Michael Boland. Edward Elgar. (2023): 292-312
• Schmit, Todd; Jablonski, Becca; Bonanno, Alessandro; Johnson, Thomas. "Measuring stocks of community wealth and their association with food systems efforts in rural and urban places"Food Policy. 102 (2021)
• Munch, D.M.; Schmit, Todd; Severson, Roberta. "Assessing the value of cooperative membership: A case of dairy marketing in the United States"Journal of Co-operative Organization and Management. 9.1 (2021): 100129
• Schmit, Todd; Severson, Roberta. "Exploring the feasibility of rural broadband cooperatives in the United States: the new New Deal"Telecommunications Policy. 45.4 (2021): 102114
• Schmit, Todd. "The Economic Contributions of Agriculture to the New York State Economy: 2019". Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University. EB 2021-04 (2021)
• Schmit, Todd; Wall, Gretchen; Newbold, Elizabeth; Bihn, Elizabeth. "Assessing the Costs and Returns of On-Farm Food Safety Investments: A Survey of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) Training Participants"PLoS ONE (Online Only). 15.7 (2020): e0235507
• Schmit, Todd; Severson, Roberta; Strzok, Jesse; Barros, Jose. "Improving Economic Contribution Analyses of Local Agricultural Systems: Lessons from a Study of the New York Apple Industry"Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. 8.C (2019): 1-15
• Schmit, Todd; Jablonski, Becca; Mansury, Yuri. "Assessing the Economic Impacts of Local Food System Producers by Scale: A Case Study from New York"Economic Development Quarterly. 30.4 (2016): 316-328

Awards and Honors

• Outstanding Public Service through Economics Award (2022) Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association
• Kendall S. Carpenter Memorial Advising Award (2019) Cornell University
• Distinguished Extension/Outreach Program Award, Honorable Mention (2017) Agricultural & Applied Economics Association
• Friend of Extension Award (2016) NYS Association of County Agricultural Agents
• Friend of CCE Tioga County Extension Award (2016) CCE – Tioga County, NY

Recent Courses

• AEM 3260/AEM 5260 - Cooperative Business Management
• AEM 3290/FDSC 3290 - International Agribusiness Study Trip

Academic Degrees

• PhD Cornell University, 2003
• MS Cornell University, 1994
• BS University of Wisconsin, River Falls, 1990

In the News

• May 04, 2016 New Toolkit Clarifies Agricultural Economic Assessment
• October 12, 2016 Extension Educators Make Ag Development Connections
• October 09, 2016 Curricular Cop-out on Co-Ops