The mission of the Economic Research Service (ERS) is to anticipate 
economic and policy issues related to agriculture, food, the 
environment, and rural development, and conduct sound, peer-reviewed 
economic research that broadly and specifically informs public 
program and policy decisions.  ERS is a primary source of economic 
information and research in the U.S. Department of Agriculture and 
its program also informs Congress, policy officials, the research 
community, and the public at large.  In over 40 years of serving its 
constituents, ERS has made noteworthy contributions to agricultural, 
food, environmental, and rural development policy in the United 
States.

This position is also being announced through Merit Promotion 
procedures under Announcement #ERS-2010-0004. Candidates who wish to 
be considered under both Public (US Citizens) and Merit Promotion 
procedures must apply to both announcements. 

The Resource and Rural Economics Division (RRED) focuses on the uses 
of resources by agriculture, the impact of agriculture on the 
environment and rural areas, incomes earned from agricultural 
activity and the effect of earnings and policy on the value of 
agricultural assets, as well as demographic and economic trends in 
the rural economy.  RRED considers the demand for new technology for 
the food and agricultural sector as well as the supply of technology 
resulting from the generation of knowledge by the public sector and 
development and commercialization by the private sector.

The Farm and Rural Business Branch (FRB) develops, interprets, and 
disseminates current analyses and longer term perspectives on the 
financial structure, performance, and viability of farms, the farm 
sector, and rural areas. Farm business formation is analyzed to 
examine how ownership and operating structures affect access to 
resources, financial performance, and the distribution of income and 
wealth. Farmer's choices regarding input procurement, market 
channels, work, and investment are examined and linkages between 
farm and non-farm businesses and rural communities are analyzed. The 
Branch monitors rural industry structure to assess changes in 
economic base, income, and employment. Sources and processes of or 
rural economic growth are examined, with an emphasis on such factors 
as amenities, creative capital, and entrepreneurship. Development 
strategies are examined with a primary focus on assessing access to 
and use of information and communication technologies in rural 
areas, tourism and recreation, and energy and renewable fuels.

• Applicants must be U. S. citizens.
• Satisfactory completion of a one-year supervisory probation required