Blake Brown
Bio
Blake Brown is the Hugh C. Kiger Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at North Carolina State University. He has just returned to NCSU from an assignment as a Senior Economist for the Council of Economic Advisers in the Executive Office of the President where he focused on agricultural policy. He has spent much of his career as a policy analyst working on farm policy, particularly tobacco policy. A major focus was working with policy makers on the $9.6 billion federal tobacco buyout. From 2008-2014 Brown directed efforts at NCSU to help farmers add or expand value-added enterprises. From 2014 – 2018 he served as director of the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Commission Agricultural Leadership Development Program.
Dr. Brown also developed the business management program, The Executive Farm Management Program, to fit the unique needs of commercial farms in the southeast. He continues to provide economic analyses for tobacco and peanuts. He has numerous publications and presentations including testimony before the House and Senate committees on agriculture as well as over $5 million in cumulative grant funding. Dr. Brown holds a Ph.D. in Economics from North Carolina State University as well as an M.S. in Agricultural Economics and B.S. in Animal Science.
Blake is married with one son. He is from a small farm in the North Carolina mountains that he continues to operate raising purebred and commercial beef cattle.
Online Publications, Presentation, and Materials
- Tobacco Growers Information Portal
- Outlooks and Situation for Southeastern Agriculture
- 2018 Farm Bill Overview and Analysis
- A U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement: Potential Benefits to U.S. Beef
- Agricultural Labor Issues and Background
Education
Ph.D. Economics North Carolina State University 1991
Area(s) of Expertise
- Agribusiness
- Agricultural Economics: Prices, Markets and Policy