Rate My Professor Karen DeLong

Karen Lewis DeLong is Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, Knoxville. She holds a PhD in Business Administration (Agribusiness) from Arizona State University (2014), an MS in Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics from Michigan State University (2010), and a BS in Mathematics and Economics from Western Michigan University (2008). DeLong joined the University of Tennessee upon completing her doctorate and has held progressive academic appointments, achieving full professorship. Her research focuses on livestock and sugar economics, consumer preferences, experimental economics, production economics, and international trade and policy. She directs the Farm Credit Mid-America Enrichment Program and the Peter Howard Wine and Ag Tourism Program, and developed and teaches AREC 395: James L. Herbert Executive Seminar Series on entrepreneurship and leadership.

DeLong's scholarly contributions include peer-reviewed publications such as 'German and British Consumer Willingness to Pay for Beef Labeled with Food Safety Attributes' (Journal of Agricultural Economics, 2017), 'Is the Natural Label Misleading? Examining Consumer Preferences for Natural Beef' (Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 2018), 'Reproductive Failure and Long-Term Profitability of Spring- and Fall-Calving Beef Cows' (Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 2020), 'Beef Cattle Farmers’ Marketing Preferences for Selling Local Beef' (Agribusiness, 2019), and 'US Consumers’ Preferences for Imported and Genetically Modified Sugar' (Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 2016). Her work has garnered over 1,250 citations. She has secured grants examining U.S. beef competitiveness in Mexico, China, Japan, the UK, and Germany, consumer preferences for Tennessee wines, potential land use of solar panels on Tennessee farmland, and cattle genomics. Awards include the UT Knoxville Athletics Professor of Excellence (2024), Newton Entrepreneurial & Critical Thinking Award (2023), and Southern Agricultural Economics Association Emerging Scholar Award (2021). Through research, extension reports, and teaching, DeLong provides analysis to agricultural stakeholders and policymakers.