Alfons Weersink | Ontario Agricultural College

Alfons Weersink

Professor
Ontario Agricultural College
Email: 
aweersin@uoguelph.ca
Phone number: 
ext. 52766
Fax: 
ext. 56347
Office: 
MCLN 222, Guelph Campus
Website links: 
https://foodfocusguelph.ca
Academic Unit: 
Department of Food Agricultural and Resource Economics
Summary: 

Alfons Weersink grew up on a farm in St. Marys, Ontario, where he developed an interest in the economics and structure of agriculture. His academic career began at the University of Guelph, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture. During the period between his master’s and Ph.D., he worked in the farm lending industry, and returned to the University of Guelph as a faculty member after completing his Ph.D. at Cornell University. In addition to being a faculty member, Alfons is also an assistant coach for the Gryphons women’s varsity soccer team.

Find Related People by Keyword

Department of Food Agricultural and Resource Economics

Research Impact: As an agricultural economist, much of Alfons’ work is applied and results in tangible outcomes. For example, he often analyzes the feasibility of a new technology such as biomass crops, methane digesters and bioproduct plastics, to determine whether it is a valuable innovation and under what conditions it is most beneficial. He also looks at the cost-effectiveness of farm level practices, such as herd health management strategies to deal with diseases. Much of his work is summative and informs government, policy makers and producer organizations of the expected impacts of a particular proposed policy or practice. Alfons’ research is often interdisciplinary and extends across all species of livestock animals and crops, allowing his work to easily transition to newly developing areas of concern in agriculture.

  • B.Sc. in Agriculture (Honours), University of Guelph (1982)
  • M.Sc. in Applied Economics, Montana State University (1984)
  • Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics, Cornell University (1989)
  • Fellow of Canadian Agricultural Economics Society (CAES) (2014)
  • Publication of Enduring Quality CAES (2014)
  • OAC Alumni Distinguished Researcher Award (2006)
  • Rajsic, P., Weersink, A., Navabi, A., & Pauls, K. P. (2016).  Economics of Genomic Selection: The Role of Prediction Accuracy and Relative Genotyping costs.   Euphytica., doi: 10.1007/s10681-016-1716-0
  • Canning, P., Weersink, A., & Kelly, J. (2016).  Farm Share of the Food Dollar: An IO Approach for the United States and Canada.   Agricultural Economics., doi: 10.1111/agec.12250.
  • Hawkins, J., Weersink, A., Wagner-Riddle, C., & Fox, G. (2015).  Optimizing Ration Formulation as a Strategy for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation in Intensive Dairy Production Systems.   Agricultural Systems, 137, 1-11, doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2015.03.007.   
  • Bryan, J., Deaton, J. B., & Weersink, A. (2015).  Do Landlord-Tenant Relationships Influence Rental Contracts for Farmland or the Cash Rental Rate?   Land Economics, 91 (4), 650-663, doi: 10.3368/le.91.4.650.
  • McKenney, D. W., Pedlar, J. H., Yang, J., Weersink, A., & Lawrence, G. (2015).  An Economic Analysis of Seed Source Options Under a Changing Climate for Black Spruce and White Pine in Ontario, Canada.   Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 45 (10), 1248-1257, doi: 10.1139/cjfr-2015-0051.

For a full list of Alfons’ publications, visit his Google Scholar page.