What do you do in your current role with the University of Missouri?
I have worked alongside Agricultural Business and Policy (ABP) state specialists since 2020, first as an undergraduate intern, and now as a Senior Agribusiness Research Analyst, I am currently earning a Master’s degree in Personal Financial Planning, which will be used to expand A&E extension programming directed at farm retirement, transition, succession and tax planning. I am part of the ABP team effort to update annual cost of production estimates, or our farm enterprise budget excel spreadsheets and printed guides for over 40 Missouri crops. This year, I led the beef enterprise budget team and curated the spreadsheet updates for the beef, and crop budgets. I collaborate with field and state specialists to develop and update other decision tools like the Beef Feeding Profitability Tracker, Missouri Farm Record Book, and Pasture Fence Construction Cost Estimator, and many others. I create curriculum and deliver programming on farm leases, the economics of grazing alternative forages, breakeven pricing for value-added products, beef profitability, the cost of pasture fencing, and more.
What is your favorite part about the work you do?
Over the past few years, I acquired a reputation as the spreadsheet guru of the ABP team. Fixing a spreadsheet with a particularly stubborn error or adding functionality with a three-line long formula are some of the most rewarding work experiences for me. In the field, getting to talk with producers about how some of the concepts in my presentations are applied in their operations is also at the top of my list.
How are you helping MU A&E Extension reach our #2xAg2030 goal?
As a fifth-generation operator of a row crop and beef farm, I bring my personal farm experience and economics training to address applied questions from agricultural producers through the Missouri Agriculture, Food and Forestry Innovation Center. This work has included opportunities to address the economic feasibility of on-farm expansions, land acquisitions, and starting novel farm enterprises including mobile poultry, aquaculture, dairy processing, and agro-tourism ventures.
Through partnerships with A&E colleagues across campus, I provide an economic analysis component of a larger effort to identify more profitable crop rotations and practices that aim to maintain or increase crop yields while reducing input costs. My work developing budgeting and recordkeeping tools for cattle producers retaining ownership beyond weaning helps producers gain confidence in their decision to add value by increasing the amount of Missouri fed and finished beef.
What is something your CAFNR and MU Extension teammates may not know about you?
I don’t have any hobbies, or at least that’s what my wife tells me! My pass time is restoring classic tractors, which my wife insists is still farming and not a hobby.
What is your hometown, place of high school graduation, and degrees/universities?
Born, raised, and live in Silex, Missouri. Graduated from Silex High School. Completed Undergraduate in Agribusiness Management from MU in 2022, Masters in Personal Financial Planning in progress, completion scheduled for Summer 2027.