Unit AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS
- Course
- Food science and technology
- Study-unit Code
- 80014906
- Curriculum
- In all curricula
- Teacher
- Lucia Rocchi
- Teachers
-
- Lucia Rocchi
- Hours
- 54 ore - Lucia Rocchi
- CFU
- 6
- Course Regulation
- Coorte 2024
- Offered
- 2026/27
- Learning activities
- Caratterizzante
- Area
- Discipline economiche e giuridiche
- Sector
- AGR/01
- Type of study-unit
- Obbligatorio (Required)
- Type of learning activities
- Attività formativa monodisciplinare
- Language of instruction
- Italian
- Contents
- Introduction to Agricultural Economics
Introduction to Farm Management Economics
The Common Agricultural Policy
European Union Quality Standards
Introduction to Agricultural Economics and World Trade - Reference texts
- Bruni F., Franco S. (2013), Economia dell’impresa e dell’azienda agraria, Il Mulino, Milano.
Slides e materials in Unistudium - Educational objectives
- The course aims to introduce students to issues relating to farm management. The study of the farm, in particular, is designed to provide students with knowledge of agricultural business management, cost and price analysis, farm profitability, and the economic viability of individual production activities. The course also provides basic knowledge of the objectives and instruments of public intervention in the agri-food sector at EU and national level, as well as food quality policies, taking into account the global context in which the farm is required to operate.
- Prerequisites
- Teaching methods
- Lectures; seminars; group work; field visits
- Other information
- Attendance is not compulsory, but strongly recommended, as is active participation in class during lectures and practical sessions.
The time and place of the lectures are available at the following link: https://dsa3.unipg.it/it/orario-delle-lezioni - Learning verification modality
- Written test with open-ended questions and exercises; option to include an oral discussion
- Extended program
- Farm and agricultural enterprise. The role of the entrepreneur. Legal forms and business risk. Agricultural entrepreneur and farmer. Multifunctional enterprises and diversification (direct sales, contract farming, social farming, bioenergy). Introduction to farm financial statements. Classification of factors of production. Land capital. Agricultural capital: working capital and advance capital. Labor: salaried employment and self-employment. Types of enterprises. Sharecropping and tenant farming. Part-time work. Decentralization. Distribution in Italy. The Italian Agricultural Accounting Network. Structural analysis of agricultural enterprises.
Introduction to financial mathematics. Simple interest and compound interest. Annuities. Reinvestment and depreciation.
The income statement of the agricultural enterprise. Differences between statutory financial statements and the income statement of the agricultural enterprise. Preparation of an income statement for the agricultural enterprise. Determination of economic results: the income statement equation based on net present value (NPV). Determination of gross marketable production and gross farm profit. Production costs. The differential elements of the income statement.
Taxes and business obligations. Taxes, duties, and contributions. Direct taxes: IRPEF, IRES, IRAP, IMU. Indirect taxes: VAT. VAT regimes in agriculture. Tax obligations. Starting an agricultural business. Overview of the farm file and the farm logbook. Cross-compliance. Work safety in agriculture. De minimis in agriculture.
Interim financial statements. Analysis of production costs. Direct and indirect (or common) costs. Allocation of common costs. Fixed and variable costs. Crop accounts and production techniques. Production costs in livestock farming. The price-setting process. Break-even point analysis.
Common Agricultural Policy. Evolution of the CAP: from coupled support to direct payments. The Rural Development Plan (overview). Quality and organic farming policies. Overview of risk and insurance in agriculture. Credit in agriculture.