Kansas Landowners Conference

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

What Trade, Tariffs and World Conflict Mean to U.S. Agriculture

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

He 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.

U.S. Economic Outlook

Brian C. Briggeman - Professor

Director, Arthur Capper Cooperative Center

Brian Briggeman is a Professor and Director of the Arthur Capper Cooperative Center in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University. Dr. Briggeman’s research and extension program focuses on agricultural finance, cooperative management, and macroeconomics. As Capper Center Director, he leads and delivers educational programs for farmer cooperative CEOs, CFOs, employees, and directors. Dr. Briggeman also teaches agricultural finance and cooperative management and advises a number of graduate students.

Kansas Land Values and Land as an Investment

Negotiating a Farm Lease (breakout)

Megan Hughes – Assistant Professor 

Agricultural Economics Department at Kansas State University

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.

Farm Estate Planning Considerations

Mineral and Oil Leases (breakout)

Dr. Shannon Ferrell

Agricultural Economics Department at Oklahoma State University 

Shannon grew up on a cattle and wheat operation in Western Oklahoma, and obtained his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Agricultural Economics from OSU before obtaining his Juris Doctorate from the Oklahoma City University School of Law with endorsements in Estate Planning and Business and Financial Services Law. Shannon spent a number of years in full-time private practice before joining OSU in 2007. As an educator and speaker, Shannon helps audiences all over North America understand the fundamental legal elements of farm business management and farm transition planning. He has provided presentations and workshops to a cumulative audience of over 30,000 across the U.S. and Canada while authoring over fifty publications, including serving as lead author on the Farm Transition Workbook. In private practice, he helps farm families with both the conversations involved in forming the best transition planning approach and creating the mechanisms to make their transitions successful. 

BREAKOUT SESSION SPEAKERS

Beef Cattle Market Outlook

Dr. Glynn Tonsor - Professor

Agricultural Economics Department at Kansas State University

Glynn Tonsor joined the K-State Agricultural Economics faculty as an Assistant Professor in March 2010. Tonsor’s current efforts are primarily devoted to a range of integrated research and extension activities with particular focus on the cattle/beef and swine/pork industries. His broader interests cover aspects throughout the meat supply chain ranging from production level supply issues to end-user consumer demand issues.

Government Payments for Row Crops in 2026; Beef Cattle Production Basics; Utilizing Cover Crops and Crop Residue on Rented Farm Ground

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.

 How to Talk to a Farmer; Planning for Long-term Care

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.

Crop Insurance Basics; Dryland Farming Basics

LaVell Winsor – Farm Analyst

Agricultural Economics Department at Kansas State University

LaVell Winsor is a Farm Analyst with the Agricultural Economics Department of Kansas State University.  LaVell primarily works directly with farm clients to assist them with their finances – whether that be evaluating a farm expansion, an annual financial check-up, or addressing a difficult creditor situation. She also helps farm families with succession planning. Over the past 27 years, LaVell’s professional work has been focused on risk management and farm financial management.

Conservation Reserve Program: Opportunites for Kansas Landowners

Nicole Welborn - Agricultural Program Specialist

Conservation and Price Support Division of the Kansas Farm Service Agency

Nicole Welborn is an Agricultural Program Specialist in the Conservation and Price Support Division of the Kansas Farm Service Agency State Office in Manhattan, Kansas.  Nicole came to the FSA State Office in 2018 after serving in the Shawnee County FSA Office in Topeka as an Agricultural Program Technician working with Shawnee County farmers and ranchers.  Nicole has worked with conservation her entire career with FSA and has a strong passion for the mission. 

Farm Income Outlook

Dr. Brady Brewer - Associate Professor and Director of the Masters of Agribusiness (MAB) Program

Agricultural Economics Department at Kansas State University

Brady’s research agenda includes the broader topics of agribusiness and profitability, agricultural finance, and production/supply chain issues. His extension program includes education on credit and lending to both farmers and bankers as well as working with agribusinesses on a variety of financial management topics. Brady grew up on a family farm in Oklahoma that raised wheat, soybeans, alfalfa, and cattle. He received a B.S. in agricultural economics and accounting from Oklahoma State University and later earned both his M.S. and Ph.D. from Kansas State University in Agricultural Economics. 

Government Payments for Row Crops in 2026; Soil Health 101 for Landowners

Jennifer Ifft -Professor

Agricultural Economics Department at Kansas State University

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.

Crop Market Outlook

Dan O'Brien – Professor

Agricultural Economics Department at Kansas State University

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. 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 strate gies; b) grain industry market structure, conduct and perfor mance; and c) economic analysis of irrigated and dryland cropping systems, and cropland leasing arrangements.

K-State Resources for Landowners

Luke Byers - Extension Assistant

Agricultural Economics Department at Kansas State University

Originally from rural Pennsylvania, Luke Byers has a B.S. in Agricultural Business & Economics from the University of Wyoming and an M.S. in Agricultural Economics from Kansas State University. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Agricultural Economics. He organizes extension conferences including the annual Risk and Profit Conference, Ag Lenders Conferences, Kansas Insurance Workshop, and Kansas Income Tax Institutes. He also maintains the AgManager.info website and provides extension outreach in farm management. 

Row Crop Production Costs and the Effect on Rental Rates

Gregg Ibendahl – Associate Professor

Agricultural Economics Department at Kansas State University

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.

Pasture Leases; Beef Cattle Production Basics

Brian Rees - Ag Agent, K-State Extension - Lyon County

Brian Rees is currently the Ag and Natural Resources Agent and Director for K-State Extension in Lyon County, based in Emporia. After growing up in Lyon County and graduating from K-State with degrees in Agronomy and Business Administration, Brian spent most of 20 years in ag industry working first with an international seed company and then a regional cooperative, before finding his way back home and into Extension. Brian and his wife Dixie live outside of Olpe and own and manage pastureland in Lyon County, have a small cow-calf operation, and run a few stocker cattle in the summer. 

Liquid Assets: Understanding the Value of Water in Kansas

Micah Cameron Harp - Assistant Professor

Agricultural Economics Department at Kansas State University

Micah Cameron-Harp is an Assistant Professor with a research and extension appointment. His research and extension efforts focus on the interplay between systems of agricultural production and the natural resource base they rely on. He has published on the impact of Kansas producers adopting more efficient irrigation technologies, targeting agricultural carbon sequestration programs using data on practice adoption and expected sequestration rates, and the effects of hurricanes on agricultural production risk. Much of his work focuses on the management of water resources in Kansas, especially in the western portion of the state where groundwater resources are under the greatest strain.