institutional arrangements required for such computer-
ized contracting systems need to be carefully researched
by multidisciplinary teams working closely with poten-
tial clients and others who would be affected.
 The computer revolution is generating problems for
decision makers. Problem solving here requires the ex-
pertise of mathematicians, operations research special-
ists, agronomists, animal scientists, horticulturists,
economists, and farm and agribusiness management
specialists.
 The recent volatility in commodity and financial
markets (including interest rates) has created many prob-
lems for farmers. Their solutions require expertise from
political scientists and business administrators, as well
as agricultural economists. Ways must be sought to
increase and stabilize incomes and/or decrease and
stabilize expenses. Research on institutional arrange-
ments to solve such problems generally must be done in
the public sector-USDA, colleges of agriculture and
non-land-grant universities.
 Input and product markets have changed rapidly
 as a result of more large, fewer middle-sized and mpre
 small, part-time farms. These changes have created
 many problems. Technical and organizational changes
 have also become problems for marketing firms. Still
 further, government controls on transportation and
 other parts of the marketing system have changed
 rapidly. Computerization of marketing processes and ad-
 vances in food technology have created changes and,
 hence, problems for agriculture. This vast set of specific,
 practical problems-partially induced and partially
 solved by technological change-involves disciplines and
 departments concerned with institutional change,
 human development and performance, and capital ac-
 cumulation, as well as technological advance (Wittwer,
 1982a). Again, much of the PS research, especially for
 small farms, has to be done in the public sector because
 the changes may not be privately profitable, however
 socially desirable. Undesirable side effects-
 environmental degradation, food chain contamination
 and unwanted changes in society-must be controlled.
 There has been a significant transition in the U.S.
 Corn Belt from mixed crop-livestock systems to cash
 cropping. If we are, in fact, unwisely "exporting our soil
 and water"-seriously depleting our land base-as a
 result of our expanding foreign markets for our agri-
 cultural products, then multidisciplinary PS research
 should proceed on the numerous private and public
 actions required to control such depletion.
 Problems arise as technological advances change the
 utilization of publicly owned resources. Much of our
 range, forest and water resources are owned by the state
 and federal governments. Governments also maintain
 a substantial public interest in privately owned forest


and water resources. Both social and biological/physical
sciences need to be involved in research on problems in-
volving the utilization of our publicly and privately
owned forest resources.
 International markets for our agricultural exports,
as well as such imports as fossil fuels, potash and even
tractors, are increasingly volatile. Problems range from
high fuel prices for fixing nitrogen and pumping water
out of the receding Ogalalla aquifer to the loss of inter-
national markets for food and feed grains. Solutions are
multidisciplinary. They involve engineering and the
biological and physical sciences, agricultural economics
and other social sciences.
 Crop improvement problems are time- and place-
specific. Growers desire pest-resistant varieties that pro-
duce more or higher quality products. The design,
generation, distribution and adoption of a new crop
variety involves plant breeders, geneticists, plant pro-
tection specialists, plant physiologists, food scientists,
plant pathologists and economists. The international
agriculture research centers have provided an excellent
example of PS research by developing high-yielding
varieties of rice, wheat, corn, sorghum, millet, edible
legumes, potatoes and root crops that are adapted to
specific adverse environments. The state Agricultural
Experiment Stations are slowly moving in this desired
direction. If the projections discussed at the beginning
of this paper are to be realized, a continuous series of
such problems must be solved to increase U.S. yields of
individual crops by 50 to 100 percent before the year
2030.


Additional Considerations
and a Summary
 The number of practical agricultural problems
 awaiting solution approaches infinity and their variety
 and vol .' i fictiontio. The above examples
 are sufficient to justify the following summary
 conclusions:
 Because the agricultural and food system of the
 United States is beset by a continuing stream of prob-
 lems, the long-term research priority is to maintain the
 ability to solve these short-run problems.
 The ARE is legislatively mandated to do PS
 research. Producers, consumers and government officials
 all expect such research to be done.
 Public facilities, personnel, contact with problems,
 feedback mechanisms and orientation required for PS
 research are found mainly in the ARE.
 The U.S. public agricultural research systems exist
 alongside an even larger private research and develop-
 ment system.