Speakers

Rabail Chandio is an Assistant Professor and Extension Economist in the Department of Economics at Iowa State University. Rabail’s research interests include studying the trends in the US farmland market, and examining the role of agricultural policy in driving farmers’ choices and financial outcomes.

Kristiana Coutu is an attorney and the director of the Beginning Farmer Center and counsel for the Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation at Iowa State University. In her roles, Kristiana provides resources for farmers and their advisors with a focus on beginning farmers and farm succession. Kristiana has focused her career on agriculture, specifically on meeting the needs of farmers. Her experience includes practicing law, working as a certified public accountant, and engaging in ag policy work. Kristiana was the fourth generation on her family’s dairy farm and understands firsthand the challenges family farms face.

Tim Christensen is a Farm Management Specialist for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach in Southwest Iowa. For the last 6 years, Tim has worked educating Iowa farmers in areas of Farm Succession, Grain and Livestock Marketing, Farm Bill, Cost of Production, and many other subjects. Tim has also been a leader in development and delivery of Farm Stress and Mental Health Awareness in the agriculture community. Before coming to Iowa State Tim worked in a range of management roles in the Agricultural industry.
Mike Downey leads the Succession Planning program for UnCommon Farms, a farmer-owned organization based in Brighton, Illinois. UnCommon Farms consults with farm businesses on 6 key areas: strategic planning, management/leadership, human resources/labor, financials, succession & risk management. Every farm is assigned a business coach and financial consultant, and they have access to a number of peer groups and other resources within the community. Prior to joining UnCommon Farms, Mike was one of the founding owners of Next Gen Ag Advocates. Next Gen was founded based on a matching and mentoring program to help connect young and beginning producers to retiring farmers without a successor. During this time, Mike worked with over 500 estates & farm transitions, both in-the-family and across families.
Elaine FroeseElaine Froese, CSP is a certified professional speaker, certified coach, and award-winning author. She’s a go-to expert for farm families who want better communication and conflict resolution to secure a successful farm transition. As a farmer and mother to the successor of their farm, she understands the culture of agriculture intimately. Elaine’s passion is to share simple, practical, and actionable tools with farm families so they can talk about tough issues and get traction in their farm transition. Her topics are a catalyst to courageous conversations and conflict resolution.
Brian serves as the Director for the Farm Loan Programs of the Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Iowa. Brian grew up on a diversified crop and livestock farm in northeast Iowa. He graduated from Central College with a BA in Business Management in 1991 and has over 30 years of ag lending experience.
Patrick Hatting is the Farm Management Specialist in Central Iowa. Patrick is part of the Farm Management Team at Iowa State University Extension & Outreach that educates Iowans on farm financial and risk management and government programs, provides guidance on strategic and business planning, examines environmental management policies, and informs on agricultural marketing tools and supply chains. Prior to ISU Extension, Patrick retired as a Financial Advisor for Northwestern Mutual after 31 years. Patrick’s financial background and experience with farm and business transition, succession, estate, and insurance planning are a great asset for farmers wanting help transitioning their operation to the next generation. Patrick also spent 32 years as a member of the U.S. Air Force, Michigan and Iowa Air National Guard, retiring with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Nicki Howell is a Program Specialist for the Iowa Agricultural Development Division of the Iowa Finance Authority. She has been assisting the Division since 2019 and began managing the Beginning Farmer Tax Credit Program in August of 2022.
Ann Johanns serves Iowa State University Extension and Outreach as a program specialist. She coordinates the extensive library of materials available on the Ag Decision Maker website and conducts research on emerging agricultural issues. Ann and her husband operate a grain and livestock farm in Mitchell County, Iowa.

Robert Moore is an attorney and research specialist with the Agriculture and Resource Law Program at the Ohio State University. Prior to joining OSU, Robert and his wife, Kelly, owned Wright & Moore Law Co. LPA, a law firm in Delaware, Ohio, focusing on legal services for farmers and landowners. Robert continues to provide legal services to clients on a part-time basis. Robert was raised on a dairy farm in Coshocton County, Ohio. He attended Ohio State University, receiving a B.S. in Dairy Science and an M.S. in Agricultural Economics. He received his J.D. from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, where he graduated cum laude. Robert’s area of focus is farm succession planning, business entities, and taxation. Over the years, Robert has worked with many farm families in designing and implementing succession plans for their family farming operations.
Tammy Nebola is a Program Specialist for the Iowa Agricultural Development Division of the Iowa Finance Authority. She started with the Division in 2008 and manages the two loan programs, the Beginning Farmer Loan Program (Aggie Bond Program) and the Loan Participation Program. Iowa continues to have the most active Aggie Bond program in the nation. Tammy has assisted many other states with best practices when creating or enhancing their Aggie Bond programs. Tammy serves as a Board Member and Treasurer for the National Council of State Agricultural Finance Programs, an association of public and private agricultural financing entities that works passionately to promote and finance agricultural development. Tammy attended the University of Iowa and Iowa State University, pursuing a Degree in Accounting. She has over 23 years of banking and finance experience,
specializing in agricultural and commercial lending, and agricultural bond financing.
Kristine Tidgren is an attorney, an adjunct associate professor in the Agricultural Education & Studies Department, and the director for the Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation. Kristine’s work focuses on studying and interpreting laws impacting the agricultural industry. In particular, she focuses on agricultural taxation.
IBrian Waddingham is the executive director of the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers. Brian directs the Coalition’s work in helping farmers follow rules and regulations, choose good locations for new farms, strengthen neighbor relations, and safeguard air and water quality. Prior to his work with the Coalition, Brian served 9 years with the Iowa Beef Industry Council as the Director of Industry Relations. He worked in the areas of producer communication, checkoff collection and compliance, coordination of research projects and the development and execution of the Beef Quality Assurance program. He also served as the Agriculture and FFA instructor at Baxter High School located in central Iowa. Brian is a native of Klemme, Iowa, with a degree in agriculture education from Iowa State University.