Dr. J. Mark Welch is an Associate Professor and Extension Economist – Grain Marketing in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University. His research and Extension appointment are focused on the interests of all stakeholders in the Texas grain industry, particularly in the areas of risk management and market analysis. By providing relevant, timely, and research-based market and management information, Dr. Welch upholds the mission of Texas AgriLife Extension to serve and improve the lives of the people of Texas.
Mark received a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa and his Master of Science Degree in Agriculture: Business and Economics from West Texas A&M University. He operated a farm and cattle feedlot in Castro County, Texas where he and his wife raised corn, wheat, sugar beets, and two daughters prior to attending Texas Tech University to earn his PhD in Agricultural Economics.
While at Texas Tech, Mark’s dissertation focused on competition and successful management strategies in the U.S. textile industry. Upon completing his doctorate, he worked as a Research Associate in the Cotton Economics Research Institute providing policy analysis on a wide array of topics dealing with competition and trade. His work included such topics as: the impact of the elimination of the cotton Step 2 Program; the effect of Chinese currency revaluation on the world cotton market; the impact of the US-CAFTA-DR agreement on the cotton and textile industries; a comparison of U.S. and Chinese cotton support programs and which was most distorting of the world cotton market; what the cotton market would look like in a free trade world; and the impact of the ethanol boom on the U.S. cotton and cottonseed industries. Mark helped prepare the annual World Cotton Outlook, a baseline projection of world cotton production and prices, and presented these findings to staff members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees as well as economists and researchers at USDA.
Dr. Welch writes the weekly Feedgrain & Wheat Outlook Reports: Market Outlook
Recent Publications: