The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requested that the Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources of the National Research Council (NRC) convene a panel of experts to examine whether publicly funded agricultural research has influenced the structure of U.S. agriculture and, if so, how. The Committee to Review the Role of Publicly Funded Agricultural Research on the Structure of U.S. Agriculture was asked to assess the role of public-sector agricultural research on changes in the size and numbers of farms, with particular emphasis on the evolution of very-large-scale operations.

The second edition of the groundbreaking Agricultural Policy, Agribusiness, and Rent-Seeking Behaviour expands upon its original analysis of the economic policies that affect agriculture and agribusiness. Widening their lens to include information on the European Union, the authors continue to emphasize the role of farmers and agribusiness in the formation of policy, exploring the issues from both economic and historical perspectives. More theoretical than the first volume in its discussions of welfare economics and the theory of public choice, the second edition also addresses the broad significance of agricultural policies such as biofuels, nutrition, multifunctionality, genetically modified organisms, and multinational firms. The authors maintain and expand the empirical content to provide more practical examples suited to teaching and analyse specific problems including price and income stabilization, science policy, environmental policy, and food quality and safety.