Land Economy & Environment

The SAC Land Economy and Environment Research Group (LEERG) is one of the largest groupings of social, economic and environmental researchers focusing on agricultural and wider rural issues in the UK with a full-time staff equivalent of 30. 

The aims of the Group are to be:

• an internationally recognised applied social, economic and environmental research unit and
• leaders in the development of interdisciplinary social, biological and environmental  research

The activities of the Group are split into four broad research areas:

• Rural Development and Food Marketing
• Bio-economics and Rural Strategy
• Resource Economics and Biodiversity
• Systems Analysis

Within these areas our main activities are: 

• modelling farm businesses
• developing methodologies for valuing non-market goods and services
• understanding and helping industry supply chains develop
• understanding institutional, social and infrastructural needs of rural society
• understanding biodiversity interactions with economic activity

A common thread throughout the activities of the Group is the analysis, interpretation and evaluation of agricultural and rural policy and the Group has been instrumental in the establishment of the SAC Centre for Rural Policy Analysis.