A Special Thank You to Gerry Harrison

June 15, 2017

PAER-2017-09

Author: Chris Hurt, Professor of Agricultural Economics

We want to say a special Thank You to Gerry Harrison in his retirement year. Gerry was the co-founder of the Purdue Agricultural Economics Report back in 1973. He has been the heart and soul of the publication for the past 44 years and the sustaining energy of the publication. His contributions have been as editor, serving on the editorial board, writing articles, and helping to make the PAER among the most widely distributed publications of the Department.

Gerry earned both Ph.D. and Juris Doctorate degrees making him one of the few who was highly trained in both farm management and legal issues. The focus of his work is in farm management, estate planning, federal tax laws, business succession planning, and the whole range of legal issues that surround Indiana agriculture such as farmland leasing, conservation easements, mineral leases, like-kind exchanges, and many more.

He is well remembered by students for courses he taught on campus including Ag Law, Estate Planning, and Federal Income Tax Law. Through the Purdue Extension Service he reached virtually everyone in Indiana and Midwest agriculture. He offered an extensive list of articles and references to the legal questions in agriculture and he made those readily available on the web. He taught countless seminars to farmers, landowners, professional farm managers, lawyers, accountants, and certified financial planners. He was always available by phone and e-mail to take legal questions.

Again we Thank Gerry for the Purdue Agricultural Economics Report, for his many years of nurturing this publication, and for his contributions to Indiana agriculture and beyond.

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2017-06 PAER

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