It is proposed that "real" research issues are socially relevant, provide findings with utility beyond the profession, and are anticipatory. An industrializing agricultural sector, an evolving political economy of agroenvironmental policy, an increasingly transnational economy, and rapid population growth are important sources of change to which research on real agroenvironmental issues must respond. Specific, identified "real" research issue areas include: benefit-risk assessment methodology; agroenvironmental regulation for industrialized agriculture; trade agreements and environmental quality; the recreation-tourism-agriculture interface; sustainable development; and the formation of preferences. The nature of identified issues suggests more interdisciplinary research, and advances in theory and methodology.