His research and extension activities focus on improving the social and environmental performance of agriculture. He has published dozens of articles on climate change and agriculture, water quality, non-operator landownership, natural resource-based rural development, and agri-environmental policy and practice in general. He is co-director of the Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll, a program that collects and disseminates information on issues of importance to agricultural stakeholders across Iowa and the Midwest. Arbuckle holds an M.S. in agricultural economics and a Ph.D. in rural sociology, both from the University of Missouri.