![Alejandro Plastina](https://cafnr.missouri.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/plastina-300x300.jpg)
Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Agricultural Finance & RaFF Director
Division of Applied Social Sciences | Rural & Farm Finance Policy Analysis Center (RaFF)
Research at a glance
Area(s) of Expertise
Research Summary
The philosophy guiding my scholarship consists in the creation, adaptation, extension, and education of usable knowledge on farm business and financial management, with particular emphasis on farm policy, the economics of conservation practices, and the drivers of agricultural productivity. My research goal is to inform my extension program through inquiries on the economic factors affecting the financial health of farm operations in the nexus of food-fiber-energy-water systems.
Plastina is the Director of the Rural and Farm Finance Policy Analysis Center (RaFF) at the University of Columbia-Missouri. His area of specialization is agricultural production and technology, with an emphasis on farm business and financial management. He has received multiple awards, including the 2023 Iowa State University (ISU) ANR Extension Team Award, the 2023 Outstanding Choices Magazine Article Award from the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association, the 2022 Dean’s Citation for Extraordinary Contributions to the ISU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the 2021 Farm Foundation Agricultural Economics Fellowship, the 2021 ISU Office of the President Excellence in Remote Instruction Award, the 2020 ISU Extension and Outreach Creativity in Service to All Iowans Award, the 2019 Agricultural & Applied Economics Association Distinguished Extension Program Award (for an individual with less than 10 years in Extension), the 2018 ISU ANR Programming Innovation Award, and the 2015 ISU Extension and Outreach Impacting Iowa Award. Prior to joining Mizzou in September 2024, Dr. Plastina served as faculty member and Extension Economist at Iowa State University (2014-2024), and Senior Economist at the International Cotton Advisory Committee in Washington, DC (2007-2014). He completed his graduate education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with an MS in Statistics (2005) and a PhD in Agricultural Economics (2007).
Educational background
- Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln