Center for Commercial Agriculture

The Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture welcomed over 230 farmers and agribusiness professionals to the 2024 Purdue Top Farmer Conference on Friday, January 5th. The annual farm management conference provided a great networking opportunity for top producers and industry professionals. The 2024 conference was offered in a hybrid format and attendance was split with approximately half of the participants attending in person at Purdue's Beck Agricultural Center while remaining attendees from 28 different states and countries joined remotely via Zoom. This year's agenda focused on the U.S. economy's outlook, the future impact of biofuels on agriculture, the long-term outlook for corn and soybeans and prospects for ag policy changes in a new Farm Bill.

James Bullard, Dr. Samuel R. Allen Dean of the Daniels School of Business at Purdue University and former president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank kicked off the morning as he shared his insight into Federal Reserve policy and the key factors influencing the U.S. economy in a fireside chat on stage with director James Mintert.

Next Brad Lubben, ag policy specialist from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, discussed the status of the new farm bill’s development and the outlook on farm policy and crop insurance decisions in 2024. "Brad did a great job of explaining  the current farm bill landscape while providing producers with insights for 2024 decisions," Mintert said.

Conference-goers also had the opportunity to take a survey on their sentiment on the ag economy and views on strategic risk. Michael Langemeier, associate center director, and graduate student Margaret Lippsmeyer compared results from participants survey responses to those from a national survey and provided management insights to the audience.

Following lunch, Scott Irwin, who holds the Norton Chair of Agricultural Marketing at the University of Illinois, focused on the future of and impact on the soybean market of renewable diesel. Dr. Irwin explained what's driving the renewable diesel boom and the limitations regarding the industry's growth prospects. After the conference's conclusion, Scott was available to sign copies of his new book Back to the Futures, copies of which were provided to registered conference participants.

Chad Hart, a professor at Iowa State University, provided a long-term outlook for both corn and soybeans to help conference attendees think about what's ahead and make plans for their farm operation's future. One conference attendee's evaluation summed it up well "Chad does an excellent job of bringing out all the nuances of production ag and commodity pricing!"

The conference concluded with a wide-open Q&A panel discussion featuring Chad Hart, Scott Irwin, Brad Lubben and James Mintert taking questions from the audience.