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.
Education
PhD Cornell University, 2003 MS Cornell University, 1994 BS University of Wisconsin, River Falls, 1990
Research
- Schmit, Todd; Liu, Xiaoyan. "Incorporating economic multipliers in a bid adjustment algorithm for public food procurement"Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy. 47.4 (2025): 1408-1432
- Rigotti, Luca; LeRoux, Matthew; Schmit, Todd. "Increasing customer purchases at farmers markets using point-of-sale scanner data"Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association. 3.1 (2024): 61-77
- Krasnoff, Shayna; Schmit, Todd; Bilinski, Cheryl. "Economic impact assessment of public incentives to support farm-to-school food purchases"Food Policy. 121 (2023): 102545
- Schmit, Todd; Tamarkin, Frederick; Severson, Roberta. "Differential economic impacts for cooperative business structures: An application to farmer-owned cooperatives in New York State"Handbook of Research on Cooperatives and Mutuals, Ed. Matthew Elliott, Ed. Michael Boland. Edward Elgar. (2023): 292-312
- Schmit, Todd; Stamm, Richard; Severson, Roberta. "Engaged learning: Linking course instruction and extension programming"Applied Economics Teaching Resources. 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; 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; 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. 15.7 (2020): e0235507
Awards
- Outstanding Achievement in Engagement (2026) Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
- ARER 2023 Journal Article of the Year (2023) Agricultural and Resource Economics Review
- 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