Federal Reserve Ag Expert Gives Ag Outlook, Land Values, and Current Conditions
David Oppedahl to Present at Hawkeye’s Money Smart Ag Conference on February 25
WATERLOO–Hawkeye Community College is hosting Money Smart Ag Conference on Tuesday, February 25, from 8:45 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Farmers and those in the agriculture industry will especially find this conference helpful and informative as they learn about financial resources and how to apply that wisdom to financial decision-making from nationally-recognized professionals. Topics include federal agriculture outlook and monetary policy insights, farm economic trends, commodities update, estate planning and trusts, land management, agriculture legalities, lending pitfalls, as well as a variety of other issues.
Keynote speaker and national agriculture expert, David Oppedahl, is a business economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago who briefs the Chicago Fed’s president on the agricultural economy. Oppedahl conducts research on the agricultural sector and rural development. He directs the Chicago Federal Reserve District’s survey of agricultural banks on agricultural land values and credit conditions, and publishes the results in AgLetter—the Chicago Fed’s quarterly agricultural publication. He received a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, and a Masters of Science in statistics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Another keynote speaker is Mike Pearson, the new host of Market to Market, following in his father’s footsteps. Pearson is a businessman and farmer who represents the sixth generation of Pearsons rooted in Midwestern agriculture. He grew up on a family farm in Iowa. After graduating from Winterset High School, he managed his family’s diversified grain and livestock operation and provided market updates and news reports for WOI radio in Ames, Iowa. Upon graduation from Simpson College, he entered the banking industry as a mortgage and agricultural lender in Grinnell, Iowa, before beginning hosting duties for Market to Market. Pearson owns and operates the Genuine Pearson Cattle Company in Grinnell, Iowa.
The lunch keynote speaker will be Paul P. Morf, attorney at Simmons, Perrine, Moyer and Bergman who will discuss how to successfully plan an estate or trust. Other speakers include JoAnne Kuster, director of Iowa Money Smart Week; Emily Bartekoske, attorney at Clark, Butler, Walsh, and Hamann; Ryan Drollette, farm management specialist from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach; Steve Ferguson, executive director at the Iowa Finance Authority; and Bruce Clark, business development officer at Grundy National Bank.
This conference will be helpful to those who are young, as well as those who are older and transitioning, and all those between. This event will be held in Tama Hall on Hawkeye’s campus, located at 1501 East Orange Road, Waterloo. Registration and breakfast will be from 8:00-8:45 a.m. The workshop includes breakfast and lunch; the cost to attend is $10 for students and $20 for all others. A snow date has been reserved for February 27. Registration deadline is February 17. Interested participants can find additional information online and can register on Hawkeye Community College’s website at www.hawkeyecollege.edu/go/money-smart.
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