2025 Breakout Sessions
1. Ag Policy Update
Robin Reid, Jenny Ifft
The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law on July 4, 2025, enhances both commodity programs and crop insurance safety nets, strengthening existing tools to manage risk and navigate market volatility. In addition to these policy changes, the 2025 American Relief Act authorized support through ECAP and SDRP payments, offering economic and natural disaster relief for 2023 and 2024 losses to affected farmers and ranchers. This session will explore the payments that have already been distributed under these programs, clarify what producers can expect in terms of future assistance, and examine key aspects of the new legislation that impacts agricultural operations.
2. Macroeconomic Implications for Agriculture
Brian Briggeman
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3. Benchmarking Agricultural Labor Productivity
Megan Hughes, Chelsea
In this session, we will present insights on Kansas agricultural labor productivity based on KFMA farm data, and discuss drivers of productivity.
4. Net Farm Income Projections for 2025 and 2026
Gregg Ibendahl
This session will present an estimate of Kansas net farm income for 2025 and 2026. Farms in the Kansas Farm Management Association are used as the core of the estimation. This past farm data is combined with estimates of yields and prices to estimate total expenses, crop and livestock revenue, government payments, and crop insurance revenue. By using KFMA farms, a distribution of net farm income can be estimated to show a broader financial picture than just a single point estimate.
5. Kansas Farm Income and Conservation Practice
Delide Joseph, Jenny Ifft
Last year, we shared early results from a survey of over 400 Kansas Farm Management Association (KFMA) farms, highlighting how conservation practice adoption varied by region, farm size, and operator age. We also previewed a framework to examine how adoption intensity might relate to farm financial performance. In this follow-up presentation, we take a deeper dive into the relationship between conservation practices and financial outcomes. Our analysis focuses on net farm income ratio and uses an agronomic scoring system that accounts for the agronomic impact of different practices, as well as regional considerations.
6. Succession Starts Here: Practical Steps Toward a Smooth Transition
Ashlee Westerhold
This session will help families understand why starting the transition process early reduces conflict, preserves relationships, and ensures business continuity. The session will break down the transition process into manageable phases—such as goal setting, family meetings, financial overview, and the involvement of advisors.
7. Land Value Impacts of Woody Encroachment in Kansas
Gabe Sampson, Jackson Lindamood
In Kansas, woody encroachment is increasing in prevalence across rangelands, raising growing concern from landowners, conservationists, and policymakers. While the ecological impact of woody cover has been well-documented, the economic impact, particularly land values, remains unexplored. This presentation examines how woody encroachment influences the value of agricultural grasslands in Kansas and how these effects vary across different ecoregions of the state. Results highlight tree cover has little to no impact on land value in most transactions. However, there is a positive effect on land value near major cities, suggesting influence by the recreational (i.e., hunting) land market.
8. What Kansas Producers Want from Their Input Suppliers
Aaron Johnson, Logan Britton
Kansas producers rely on input suppliers for critical decisions in crop and livestock production. While many factors shape supplier choice, producers prioritize specific attributes when forming relationships. This session will present results from a statewide survey that asked Kansas producers what they value most for their suppliers and how these preferences vary across farm characteristics.
9. What Does Early Season Soil Moisture Tell Us About Final Corn Yields?
Micah Cameron-Harp, Parker Vulgamore, Jenny Ifft, Jesse Tack
In this session, we will present ongoing research into using soil moisture conditions before planting to predict corn yields. Our work demonstrates there is a non-linear relationship between early-season soil moisture and corn yields, with intermediate soil moisture levels providing the greatest benefits. While low and high soil moisture conditions both negatively affect yields, the magnitude of these early-season drought and flood effects differs by growing region. In addition to facilitating earlier yield forecasts, this work provides valuable information on how local yields will compare to those of competing regions.
10. Water Resource Management and Irrigation in Kansas: Current Concerns and Emerging Issues
Micah Cameron-Harp
Issues of water quantity and quality constrain agricultural production across Kansas. This session will begin with an overview of regional water constraints and their economic impacts. We will then discuss some of the proposed solutions, such as technological fixes or water right curtailments, using evidence from irrigators who adapted to similar changes in the past.
11. Is Irrigation Water Use Efficiency Important – Evidence from the Testing Ag Performance Solutions Project
Bill Golden, Daran Rudnick, Micah Cameron-Harp, Jackson Lindamood
The Ogallala Aquifer in Kansas is experiencing significant impacts from declining aquifer thickness. To stem declines and approach aquifer sustainability, producers must transition to reduced groundwater withdrawal and enhanced system-level water use efficiency. Evidence from the Testing Ag Performance Solutions Project may help define goals for system-level water use efficiency.
12. Full Credit: A Comprehensive View of Farm-Sector Credit Conditions
Jenny Ifft, Joe Parcell, Alice Roach
In partnership with the Rural and Farm Finance Policy Analysis Center at the University of Missouri, Kansas State University researchers conduct agricultural credit research to better understand current farm financial conditions and anticipate how they may change in the future. This presentation will highlight four currently underway farm finance projects:
* State farm income outlook released twice annually.
* Estimates of historical and forward-looking farm loan delinquency rates based on the farm income outlook.
* Leading indicators of farm financial health to monitor for emerging vulnerabilities.
* Exploration of the extent to which farm debt may be underestimated and the implications of underestimated debt.
13. A 2025 Ag Income Tax Update
Mark Dikeman
This summer, the Congress passed, and the President signed, The One Big Beautiful Bill Act which adjusted or extended many individual and business income tax provisions. This session will highlight some of the changes and extensions from this bill and the impact on agricultural producers in Kansas.
14. Space Weather Impacts on Farm GPS
Terry Griffin
GPS technology has revolutionized farming since the 1990s, with over 70% of Midwest row-crop acres now relying on it for planting, spraying, and yield mapping. But GPS signals are vulnerable to disruptions—from space weather events like the May 10, 2024, Gannon Storm, to intentional interference. Even a short outage can cause costly delays, missed sections, and reduced yields—especially with today’s wider equipment that depends on automated guidance. This presentation explains how GPS outages affect your farm’s bottom line and how early warnings could help you plan ahead.
15. Is Micro-Captive Insurance an Alternative to a Whole-Farm (Business) Comprehensive and Liability Insurance Policy?
Joe Parcell, Weston Guetterman
The premiums for comprehensive and liability insurance have been trending higher leaving many persons to question what alternatives there are beyond self-insuring. The micro-captive insurance option is gaining interest as one alternative. Persons get excited about the micro-captive concept because of potential tax advantages and because it’s like paying yourself the premium. Is it really that easy and advantageous? What are the pitfalls? What are the regulations? What do we know from other industries about whether captives offer a better financial outcome? Join us as we explore micro-captive insurance.
16. Maritime Trade Disruptions in Global Food Supply Chains: Effects on Caloric Availability
Jenae Tildford, Nelson Villoria
World trade for maize, wheat, rice, and soybeans rely heavily on maritime passageways like the Panama Canal, Suez Canal, and Malacca Strait. Over 55% of these globally traded commodities pass through at least one. This paper uses a gravity trade model and calorie-based bilateral trade data (2010-2022) to estimate food security risk from passageway disruptions. A 1% increase in distance traveled reduces imported calories by 1.2%. Impacts include a 62% drop for El Salvador (Panama Canal disruption), 81% for Jordan (Suez Canal disruption), and 20% for Malaysia (Malacca Strait disruption). Results highlight vulnerability in Central/South America, the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.
17. International Grain Market Trends
Guy Allen, Dan O'Brien
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18. Bioenergy Market Situation and Outlook
Dan O'Brien, Gregg Ibendahl
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19. Black Sea Grain and Oilseed Production and Trade: The Latest Developments and Prospects
Antonina Broyaka
From Black Sea port infrastructure to farmland soils, Russia’s war has negatively impacted all aspects of Ukraine’s agricultural system. However, despite wartime risks, Ukraine’s agricultural sector demonstrates a high level of resilience and continues to maintain leading positions in the global food markets. This session will discuss what has changed and what to expect in the Black Sea region, as well as how these changes affect global grain and oilseed markets.
20. Climate Change and Agricultural Exports: Evidence from U.S. Corn and Soybeans, 2000–2100
Atif Rao, Nelson Villoria
This study assesses the impact of the variability of growing season temperature, heat extremes, and precipitation on corn and soybean production and export volumes in 12 U.S. Midwestern states (2000-2020) using future climate projections through 2100, particularly the increasing incidence of excess heat during the growing season.
For corn, we find that increased heat incidence significantly curtails production, but its impact on export volumes is proportionally smaller, suggesting that the domestic market absorbs most of the loss in production. In contrast, for soybeans, increasing heat significantly diminishes both production and export volumes comparably.
Spatial analysis across the Midwest reveals pronounced regional heterogeneity. Hotter states (Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska) consistently demonstrate significantly larger adverse effects on production and export potential from heat stress, while cooler northern states (Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin) exhibit less pronounced negative effects.
21. Costly Regulation, Minimal Results: The EU’s Deforestation Regulation Effect on Global Soy Trade
Manoj Sharma, Nelson Villoria
The European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) seeks to reduce deforestation by restricting soy imports. The main concern is that trade restrictions can shift deforestation-embodied trade to unregulated markets. To shed light on this issue, we employ a gravity model, treating the EUDR compliance costs as trade costs for exports to the EU. We find that the stricter EU trade restrictions on tropical soy producers reallocate soy exports toward China and other Asian countries. If tropical countries do not comply with the EUDR, the EU consumer prices rise even more, while tropical countries see minimal terms-of-trade losses. Our analysis indicates that the EUDR is likely to be ineffective in reducing deforestation directly linked to soy production.
22a. Economic Feasibility of Alternative Crops in Arid and Semi-Arid Areas: The Case of Tomato in Southwest Kansas
Gventzly Eugene, Vincent Amanor-Boadu
The accelerating depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer threatens the sustainability of water-intensive traditional farming in western Kansas. This research investigates the techno-economic viability and socio-environmental impact of transitioning to controlled-environment agriculture as a strategic adaptation. We employ a System Dynamics Modeling framework to replace the net farm income of a typical farmer in southwest Kansas with new alternative crops and crop production technologies. Preliminary simulations, using tomato production as a case study, suggest that controlled-environment systems can deliver comparable or superior profitability while drastically reducing resource use, including water. Additionally, the transition has the potential of changing the social make up of communities as they grapple with out-migration, economic development, and other challenges. The results also indicate that moving to this innovative farming system would require a change in attitude that may be equivalent to frontier thinking – innovative, entrepreneurial, and enduring.
22b. Economic Feasibility of Alternative Crops in Arid and Semi-Arid Areas: The Case of Tomato in Southwest Kansas
Adji Aamtato Gane-Bang, Vincent Amanor-Boadu
Western Kansas faces a growing agricultural water challenge due to increasing uncertainty about rainfall and a declining Ogallala Aquifer. Exploring potential low moisture demand crops is a potential solution to sustaining livelihoods in the region. This research assesses the feasibility of sesame as an alternative. Preliminary findings suggest that sesame is well-suited to the region’s semi-arid climate and had lower production costs than current crops. However, it requires different husbandry skills and management resources. The preliminary results show that ongoing agronomic research and increasing global demand support a consideration of sesame as a credible alternative.
23. Strengthening Georgia’s Wheat Supply Chain: Quality Assessment and Strategies for Reducing Import Dependence
Kara Ross, Allen Featherstone, Antonina Broyaka, Shawn Thiele
Georgia’s reliance on imported wheat, particularly from Russia, poses significant food security risks. This study evaluated the Georgian wheat and milling industry, compared the quality of domestic wheat and flour to Russian imports, and identified strategies for improvement. Laboratory testing revealed that Georgian wheat has weaker gluten properties. The absence of standardized testing contributes to quality misperceptions among millers and bakers. To strengthen the domestic industry, the study recommends implementing quality testing protocols, upgrading infrastructure, and adopting targeted agronomic practices. These measures can enhance wheat quality, reduce import dependence, and improve national food security.
24. Digitalization, Tariffs and Trade
Allen Featherstone, Delide Joseph
This discussion will look at the U.S. China trade relationship. The impact of alternative tariff rates on the soybean sector and the beef sector will be discussed. In addition, recent research on the importance of trade facilitation and digitalization on trade flows will be examined using data collected by the UN.
