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Visiting professor compares farm laws in USA, Australia

February 07, 2005

BeckerJohn.thumb.jpgThe Australian Centre for Agriculture and Law (AgLaw Centre) is benefiting from the experience of an American professor who has witnessed big changes in the regulation of agriculture in the United States over the past 20 years.

During his three-week stay at the AgLaw Centre within the University of New England, Professor John Becker will, among other things, be comparing the industrialisation of agriculture in the United States and Australia. He is visiting the AgLaw Centre as a Fulbright Senior Specialist Fellow.

John Becker, Professor of Agricultural Economics and Law at The Pennsylvania State University, conducts research on the legal, economic and policy issues affecting those involved in agriculture in the United States, and the impact of environmental laws on farmers and rural communities. “When I started teaching at Penn State University 20 years ago, one of the ideas people found difficult to accept was that ‘a farm is a business and has to be run as a business’,” he said. “These days, that idea is accepted by a large proportion of the agricultural community.”

This change of attitude has been associated with a change of scale from an industry consisting largely of family farms to one becoming dominated by larger-scale enterprises. “And with this change in the scale of production,” Professor Becker said, “agriculture has become more subject to general industrial regulation (for example, regulations relating to workplace safety). Until fairly recently, agriculture was regarded as a ‘special’ or ‘foundation’ segment of the economy, and not necessarily subject to the same rules as manufacturing industries.”

Professor Becker said the AgLaw Centre at UNE, the first Centre of its kind in Australia, was unique in his experience in its broad-based access to expertise in law, economics, science, and business management. He said his Fulbright Fellowship was an “ideal opportunity” to get an international perspective on issues of agriculture and law.

While at the AgLaw Centre, Professor Becker will be advising on the development of a planned Master of Agricultural Law degree at UNE, leading seminars (for both lawyers and non-lawyers) on agricultural law, and advising the Centre on its research program, as well as undertaking comparative research on the effects of restrictive trade practices and the industrialisation of agriculture. He said he would also like to discuss the possibility of student exchange between Penn State University and UNE, and of a jointly-developed curriculum.

“The issues facing agricultural production and rural communities now are more complex than they were in the past,” he said. “Lawyers need to understand as much about the science as scientists understand about the law, and producers need to understand a bit of both. The AgLaw Centre is uniquely placed to facilitate such understanding.”


Media contact: Professor John Becker, AgLaw Centre, UNE (02) 6773 3437 or Jim Scanlan, Public Relations, UNE (02) 6773 3049.
For the photograph of Professor Becker reproduced here, please contact Jim Scanlan on (02) 6773 3049.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at February 7, 2005 02:47 PM