Speakers

Jeanne Bernick, Pinion Global	Jeanne Bernick is an ag business consultant and the Global Growth Leader for business advisory firm Pinion (formerly K·Coe Isom). Jeanne works with farm families in succession planning, and also leads growth strategy for the firm by helping match the needs of commercial ag producers globally with Pinion’s talent and tools. Prior to joining Pinion, Jeanne was the editor of Top Producer magazine and spent 20 years with Farm Journal Media, developing long-standing relationships with large commercial ag producers and their families.
Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, Landus	Elizabeth has a multi-faceted skillset and extensive agriculture policy and political experience across the Midwest. Throughout her professional career she has specialized in helping farmers and rural agricultural businesses sustain their voice in the political process. Her roots run deep in agriculture, having grown up on a family farm in eastern Iowa, she’s held roles with the Farm Bureau, Corn Growers, as well as industry leading biofuel manufacturers and innovative carbon management technologies. Elizabeth earned her J.D. from Drake Law School with a specialization in agricultural law and policy, and a B.S. in Agricultural Business and International Agriculture from Iowa State University.
Catherine DeLong, Iowa State Extension & Outreach	Catherine DeLong is the Water Quality Program Manager for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. She works statewide to bring people together to share resources, ideas and perspectives about water quality, and to help Iowans understand the role they can play in the future of Iowa’s water.
Paul Dietmann, Compeer Financial	Paul is a Senior Lending Officer of Mission Financing at Compeer Financial. His primary role at Compeer is to provide loans and other assistance to emerging market farmers in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. He spent 11 years as county agriculture agent and department head with UW-Extension in Sauk County, WI, and served 5 year as Director of the Bureau of Farm and Rural Services at the WI Department of Agriculture.
Kiley Fleming, Iowa Mediation Service	In 2015, Iowa Mediation Service hired Kiley to serve as the Executive Director. With a Doctorate in Interdisciplinary Leadership from Creighton University, Master of Science degree in Human Resource Development, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, Kiley has the expertise to design impactful conflict management and communication training. She is also well-equipped to conduct conflict resolution and mediation sessions, as she has done for the majority of her Human Resources and consulting career.
Brian Gossling, Farm Service Agency	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.
Jennifer Harrington, ISU Center for Ag Law & Tax	Jennifer is a Staff Attorney at ISU’s Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation. She focuses on transition planning, specifically in the areas of business entity transitions and estate planning. Prior to joining CALT, Jennifer was a partner at Buchanan, Bibler, Gabor & Meis, LLP, a county-seat practice in Kossuth County.
Dr. Chad Hart	Chad Hart was born and raised in southwest Missouri and his parents raised a few cattle and operated a small meat locker. Chad received a B.S. in economics with minors in mathematics, history, and astronomy from Southwest Missouri State University in 1991. He received a Ph.D. in economics and statistics in 1999 from Iowa State University. His main research areas are in agricultural marketing and risk management.
Brad Hayes, BH Appraisal Services	Brad Hayes is a Certified General Real Property Appraiser and specializes in appraising agricultural real estate assets throughout Iowa. Brad attended the University of Northern Iowa and graduated in December 2012 with a Bachelors Degree in Real Estate and Finance. In addition to operating BH Appraisal Services, Brad keeps busy with his Family’s Cow/Calf operation
Carroll & Kathy Hoksbergen, Pella, Iowa	Caroll and Kathy operated a row crop and hog operation in southern Iowa for nearly 50 years. After realizing the none of their three adult children would be taking over the farm, the couple became committed to finding an ambitious beginning farmer outside of the family to take over the farm.
Ann Johanns, ISU Extension and Outreach	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.
Matthew & Hannah Lansing	Hannah and Matthew both grew up on dairy farms in Eastern Iowa. They met at Iowa State University where they both received a B.S. in Animal Science and minors in Business and Agronomy. Upon graduating, the two began working in the dairy industry until 2021 when they returned to Hannah’s family dairy where they currently milk 1,200 cows and farm over 5000 acres.
Joe Leo, Brown Winnick	Joe Leo is an attorney at Brown Winnick. After graduating from UW – Madison, Joe started his career running two federal business development programs for the Wisconsin Department of Commerce. This lead Joe to attending Drake University Law School. Joe has worked at BrownWinick his entire legal career.
Tammy Nebola, Iowa Finance Authority	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.


David Oppedahl, Federal Reserve Bank	David Oppedahl is a policy advisor in the Economic Research Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Oppedahl conducts research on the agricultural sector and rural development, as well as analyzing business conditions and the regional economy.
Dr. Alejandro Plastina	Dr. Alejandro Plastina is an Associate Professor and Extension Economist in the Department of Economics at Iowa State. His area of specialization is agricultural production and technology, with an emphasis on farm business and financial management. Prior to joining ISU in 2014, Dr. Plastina was Senior Economist at the International Cotton Advisory Committee in Washington, DC.
Anne Reser-Moorehead, Whitfield & Eddy	Anne Reser-Moorehead is an associate attorney practicing in Whitfield & Eddy’s estates, wills, and trusts practice group, litigation practice group, and real estate practice group. In her practice, she supports clients in estate planning, preparation of trusts, wills, and powers of attorney, trust administration, and probate. She also assists with residential, commercial, and agricultural real estate transactions, and related entity needs.
Matt Russell, Farm Service Agency	Matt Russell was appointed by the Biden Administration to serve as the State Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Iowa in November 2021. Russell is a fifth-generation Iowa farmer who grew up on a livestock farm in Cass County. He now co-owns and operates Coyote Run Farm, a farmily farm near Lacona, Iowa.
Kristine Tidgren, ISU Center for Ag Law & Tax	Kristine is 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.
Jeff Troendle, Hertz Farm Management	He grew up working on a grain and livestock farm in Northeast Iowa. From there he went on to become an animal caretaker on the Iowa State University Beef Training Farm while attending ISU. Jeff was a research intern for Asgrow Seed Company. He worked as a data collector for the Iowa State University Economics Department in 1984-1986. Jeff has served as the President of Hertz Farm Management since 2016.
Kitt Tovar Jensen, ISU Beginning Farmer Center	Kitt is a Staff Attorney at the Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation at Iowa State University. She focuses on areas of agricultural law including farm succession planning, environmental law, and farm policy. Kitt also manages the Beginning Farmer Center.