Midwest Agriculture Conference

Rabail Chandio is an assistant professor and extension economist in the Department of Economics at Iowa State University. Her primary research interests include understanding the U.S. farmland markets as well as exploring agricultural stakeholder behavior and actions to evaluate and inform agricultural policy. Chandio is also affiliated with the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development. She is the leading researcher for the annual Iowa Land Values Survey and annual ISU Soil Management and Land Valuation Conference. She also serves as the academic vice president for the Iowa Chapter of ASFMRA. Chandio completed her doctoral studies in agricultural, environmental, and development economics from Ohio State University in August 2023.

Martin Davies is global head of Nuveen Natural Capital, a farmland and timberland investment company owned by Teachers Insurance Annuity Association of America (TIAA). Nuveen Natural Capital is part of the wider Nuveen investment management business, which has $1.3 trillion of assets under management for TIAA and other institutional and retail investors. Nuveen Natural Capital manages $12.4 billion of capital invested in more than 3 million acres of farmland, timberland, and mitigation banks in the United States, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Columbia, Panama, Poland, Romania, Australia, and New Zealand, producing more than 46 different crops and growing ten different tree species.

An agricultural graduate of the University of Reading, after 13 years with the Cooperative Group Farms in the UK, most recently as head of farming operations, Davies spent five years working on investment projects for private investors in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, and Ukraine. Prior to joining Nuveen Natural Capital, he was head of farmland investment for Bank of New York Mellon’s subsidiary Insight Investment, where he ran a $250 million farmland strategy, investing in Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Poland, and Romania. Davies was chairman of the 2017 Oxford Farming Conference. He is a 2006 Nuffield Scholar and trustee of Nuffield International, whom he represents at the Private Sector Mechanism, part of the Committee for Food Security at the FAO in Rome.

Doug Hensley is president of real estate services for Hertz Farm Management Inc. In this capacity, he leads Hertz’s real estate sale, auction, and acquisition work across a multistate Midwest U.S. footprint. During the past five years, the firm has handled more than 2,000 individual transactions, marketed more than 200,000 acres, and sold more than $2 billion in farm real estate. Prior to joining Hertz in 2017, Hensley spent nearly 20 years in the farmland brokerage and auction industry. He owned and operated his own firm, and he had also spent 12 years as a managing broker with the Loranda Group Inc., a regional farmland brokerage and auction firm.

As part of his work across the real estate industry, Hensley has taught seminars on land ownership, agricultural finance, real estate sales, auction law, and small business dynamics. In addition, he has written and taught continuing education courses for both real estate and auction professionals in Illinois. Hensley also comes from a background of knowing what it’s like to live and work on a farm, as he was raised on a cash grain and livestock farm in western Illinois. Hensley graduated from the University of Illinois with a Bachelor of Science in agricultural economics and a Master of Business Administration.

Todd Kuethe is a professor and Schrader Chair in Farmland Economics in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University. He also serves as a consultant at the Federal Reserve Banks of Chicago and Kansas City, editor of the Agricultural Finance Review, and co-editor of the Purdue Agricultural Economics Report. He has an active research and extension program in farm real estate markets, agricultural finance, and agricultural policy. Kuethe’s work has been profiled in a number of major media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Times, Washington Post, The Economist, VICE, and National Public Radio. His research has been recognized by awards from the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA), the AAEA’s Agricultural Finance and Management Section, North American Regional Science Council, and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Kuethe previously served as a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois (2013–19) and as an economist in the USDA Economic Research Service in Washington, DC (2009–13). He earned a PhD in agricultural economics from Purdue University (2009), an MS in agribusiness economics from Southern Illinois University (2005), and a BS in economics from Saint Louis University (2003).

Todd Kuethe is a professor and Schrader Chair in Farmland Economics in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University. He also serves as a consultant at the Federal Reserve Banks of Chicago and Kansas City, editor of the Agricultural Finance Review, and co-editor of the Purdue Agricultural Economics Report. He has an active research and extension program in farm real estate markets, agricultural finance, and agricultural policy. Kuethe’s work has been profiled in a number of major media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Times, Washington Post, The Economist, VICE, and National Public Radio. His research has been recognized by awards from the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA), the AAEA’s Agricultural Finance and Management Section, North American Regional Science Council, and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Kuethe previously served as a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois (2013–19) and as an economist in the USDA Economic Research Service in Washington, DC (2009–13). He earned a PhD in agricultural economics from Purdue University (2009), an MS in agribusiness economics from Southern Illinois University (2005), and a BS in economics from Saint Louis University (2003).

Bob Stewart is the managing partner of Stewart Farms. Stewart Farms is a multigenerational family grain farm headquartered in Yorkville, Illinois, 50 miles southwest of Chicago. The farm has land bases in northern and central Illinois. Stewart operates the farm along with several family members and a dedicated group of employees. Its crops grown are commercial corn, soybeans, and seed corn. Stewart’s responsibilities include farmland acquisition, landowner relations, and financial management. He earned a BS (1992) and an MS (1994) in agricultural economics from the University of Illinois.

Mykel Taylor joined the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology at Auburn University as the Alfa Endowed Eminent Scholar and associate professor in January 2021. Her research and teaching interests broadly include markets for agricultural land, leasing, and farm management. Taylor grew up on a cow-calf operation in Montana and attended Montana State University, where she obtained both her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science. She received her PhD from North Carolina State University and has worked at Washington State University and Kansas State University in extension and research roles.

Wendong Zhang is an assistant professor and extension economist in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, SC Johnson College of Business, at Cornell University. His research seeks to better understand the interplay between agriculture and the environment, farmland market, and Chinese agriculture. Zhang is currently a faculty affiliate at the Cornell Center for China Economic Research (CICER), faculty fellow at the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, and he was selected as the 2022–23 Global Public Voices Fellow at the Cornell Einaudi Center for International Studies. He also currently serves as an associate editor of the American Journal of Agricultural Economics as well as the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. Prior to his tenure at Cornell, he was an associate professor in the Department of Economics and the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University, where he led the Iowa Land Value Survey and Iowa Farmland Ownership and Tenure Survey from 2015 to 2022. Zhang received his PhD in agricultural, environmental and development economics from the Ohio State University in July 2015, and he also holds a BSc in environmental science from Fudan University in China.

Wendong Zhang is an assistant professor and extension economist in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, SC Johnson College of Business, at Cornell University. His research seeks to better understand the interplay between agriculture and the environment, farmland market, and Chinese agriculture. Zhang is currently a faculty affiliate at the Cornell Center for China Economic Research (CICER), faculty fellow at the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, and he was selected as the 2022–23 Global Public Voices Fellow at the Cornell Einaudi Center for International Studies. He also currently serves as an associate editor of the American Journal of Agricultural Economics as well as the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. Prior to his tenure at Cornell, he was an associate professor in the Department of Economics and the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University, where he led the Iowa Land Value Survey and Iowa Farmland Ownership and Tenure Survey from 2015 to 2022. Zhang received his PhD in agricultural, environmental and development economics from the Ohio State University in July 2015, and he also holds a BSc in environmental science from Fudan University in China.

Brandon Zick is responsible for managing all investments at Ceres Partners, including Ceres Farms flagship farmland fund and Ceres Food & Agriculture private equity strategies. In this role he supervises valuation analysis, acquisition/investment due diligence, portfolio and tenant management, and acquisition negotiations and execution. Prior to joining Ceres in 2010, Zick served as vice president of strategic acquisitions at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, where he performed due diligence, valuation analysis, deal negotiation, and execution of strategic business transactions. He previously worked as a senior associate of investor relations at Morgan Stanley, and he began his career as a finance associate at Lehman Brothers. Zick currently serves on the Chicago Fed Advisory Council and the Small Business, Agriculture and Labor Sub-Council. Zick graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a BBA in finance and a Japanese concentration and is a chartered alternative investment analyst. Zick grew up on a family dairy and crop farm in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Brandon Zick is responsible for managing all investments at Ceres Partners, including Ceres Farms flagship farmland fund and Ceres Food & Agriculture private equity strategies. In this role he supervises valuation analysis, acquisition/investment due diligence, portfolio and tenant management, and acquisition negotiations and execution. Prior to joining Ceres in 2010, Zick served as vice president of strategic acquisitions at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, where he performed due diligence, valuation analysis, deal negotiation, and execution of strategic business transactions. He previously worked as a senior associate of investor relations at Morgan Stanley, and he began his career as a finance associate at Lehman Brothers. Zick currently serves on the Chicago Fed Advisory Council and the Small Business, Agriculture and Labor Sub-Council. Zick graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a BBA in finance and a Japanese concentration and is a chartered alternative investment analyst. Zick grew up on a family dairy and crop farm in northeastern Pennsylvania.