K-State Ag Profitability Conferences

Allen Featherstone – University Distinguished Professor, Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Director of Masters of Agribusiness at Kansas State University

Allen holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in agricultural economics from Purdue University.  He also holds a B.S. in agricultural economics and economics from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.  Professor Featherstone is recognized as a leading scholar in agricultural finance. His work has resulted in teaching and research awards and quotation in the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, and other publications. He served as Associate Editor for the American Journal of Agricultural Economics and on the editorial board of Choices.  He has more than 150 articles published in a variety of journals. He has experience lecturing and researching in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America.

Gregg Ibendahl – Associate Professor, K-State Ag. Economics

Dr. Ibendahl is a farm management Extension faculty member. He grew up on a small grain/beef farm in southern Illinois. Dr. Ibendahl has experience in private industry and academia having worked several years at Dekalb Genetics in their production area. His current work includes estimating net farm income, predicting crop yields, and estimating farm expenses. He annually publishes estimates of county cash rental rates for the state.

Dan O’Brien

Daniel O’Brien was raised on a grain and livestock farm in south central Nebraska. He received bachelors and masters degrees in Agricultural Economics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. After completing his Ph.D. at Iowa State, he worked as the Extension Agricultural Economist at the Northwest Research and Extension Center in Colby and was Northwest Area Extension Administrative Director starting in 2003 before returning to his Extension Agricultural Economist position in January 2007. His ongoing extension and applied research interests and efforts are in the areas of a) grain market supply-demand analysis, bioenergy impacts and risk management strategies, b) grain industry market structure, conduct and performance – focusing on grain handling and transportation issues, and c) economic analysis of irrigated and dryland cropping systems, and associated cropland leasing arrangements

Jennifer Ifft - Agricultural Policy, Crop Insurance, Agricultural Finance, Farmland Markets, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist

Jennifer Ifft has an integrated research and extension program that covers policy and regulatory issues that affect the viability of U.S. and Kansas agriculture. Before coming to Kansas State University, she was an assistant professor at the Cornell University Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management and worked in the Farm Economy Branch of the USDA Economic Research Service. She has a PhD from the University of California - Berkeley, an MPhil from the University of Cambridge and a BS from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She grew up on her family’s farm in central Illinois.

Robin Reid - Extension Farm Economist, Agricultural Economics Department at Kansas State University

Robin Reid is an Extension Farm Economist with the Agricultural Economics Department at Kansas State University.  Robin works on a variety of economic topics including farm policy, farm financial management, land values, Women in Ag. programming, and much more. Robin grew up on a farm in Wisconsin and earned a B.S. in Agricultural Business from UW-River Falls.  She also holds an M.S. in Agricultural Economics from K-State.

Megan Hughes – Assistant Professor, K-State Ag. Economics

Megan Hughes is an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in land and crop markets. Her research interests include agricultural finance, farm management, and production. Megan’s research has included work on agricultural credit markets, producer sentiment, and the adoption of conservation practices. Megan was raised on a seventh-generation independent seed farm in Northern Illinois and is passionate about running an integrated research and extension program to deliver insights back to the farm.

Ashlee Westerhold - Director of AgKansitions, Agricultural Economics Department at Kansas State University

Ashlee earned her Bachelors and Masters in Agricultural Economics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Westerhold served as an Area Extension Educator at the University of Idaho where she created, delivered and collaborated on major risk management programs. Westerhold has always been passionate about Succession Planning because of her advisor, Dr. Ron Hanson. Her main objective is to keep families in farming and ranching.