Guest speakers

Reuben Baris
regulatory policy leader, Corteva Agriscience

Presentation title: Panel discussion on the impacts of the Endangered Species Act for Midwestern agriculture

Presentation times:
Session F - Monday, 2:00 PM - 2:50 PM

Kellie Blair
Blair Farm LLC, Dayton, IA

Kellie Blair is a graduate of Iowa State University with a BS in Forestry and Agronomy. Kellie and her husband, AJ, operate Blair Farm, LLC, a 4th generation diversified crop and livestock farm, in north central Iowa near Dayton. Her focus has been in soil conservation and water quality on her own farm, locally, statewide and nationally.

Presentation title: Panel discussion on the impacts of the Endangered Species Act for Midwestern agriculture

Presentation times:
Session F - Monday, 2:00 PM - 2:50 PM

Dennis Bowman
Extension digital agriculture specialist, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL

Dennis Bowman is the Extension Specialist for Digital Agriculture. In addition to Extension, he has appointments in Crop Sciences and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. Dennis grew up on a small grain and livestock farm near Carlinville, Illinois in Macoupin County. He received his B.S. in 1981 from Western Illinois University (Ag. Sci.) and his M.S. from the University of Illinois in 1992 (Agronomy). He's been employed with University of Illinois Extension since 1981, serving as Assistant and Associate Ag. Adviser in Macoupin County from 1981 to 1985, and as Ag. Adviser in DeWitt County from 1985 to 1992. He worked out of the regional Extension Centers in Decatur and Champaign and is currently located on campus. He served as Interim Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources Program Leader from 2019 through 2021. He is currently active in several major USDA NIFA grants including AIFARMS, SCAPES and IFARM. He has been a FAA certified Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) pilot since 2016 and now also holds an aerial applicator certificate.

Presentation title: From field to sky: How drones are transforming aerial agricultural applications

Presentation times:
Session K - Tuesday, 10:10 AM - 11:00 AM
Session L - Tuesday, 11:10 AM - 12:00 PM

Aaron Hager
professor and extension weed specialist, Crop Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign, Urbana, IL

Dr. Aaron Hager is a professor of weed science in the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois. He has more than 30 years of weed science experience and assists agronomic crop producers manage weeds by implementing sustainable practices. The focus of Dr. Hager’s research program is to develop innovative weed management approaches with an emphasis on addressing contemporary weed species infesting corn and soybean in Illinois. His ultimate research goal is to establish a robust applied research program, supplemented with basic research fostered through novel collaborations with ecologists and molecular biology scientists, to provide economical and sustainable solutions to the fundamental weed management challenges plaguing Illinois producers. Dr. Hager’s knowledge of practical weed management has been shared with weed management practitioners across the US, Canada, South America, Europe and Asia.

Presentation title: Group 15 + Group 4 = Group 5???

Presentation times:
Session A - Monday, 9:00 AM - 9:50 AM
Session B - Monday, 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM

Doug Jones
regional agriculture advisor, Region 7, US Environmental Protection Agency, Lenexa, KS

Presentation title: Updates on EPA’s Endangered Species Act and pesticide efforts

Presentation times: Session E - Monday, 1:00 PM - 1:50 PM

Presentation title: Panel discussion on the impacts of the Endangered Species Act for Midwestern agriculture

Presentation times: Session F - Monday, 2:00 PM - 2:50 PM

Daniel Kaiser
associate professor, Soil, Water and Climate, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN

Daniel Kaiser grew up on a grain and livestock farm in Northeast Iowa. He attended Iowa State University where he received his Masters and Ph.D. degree in soil fertility researching phosphorus and potassium placement for corn and soybean and phosphorus management using poultry litter. Currently he is an associate professor and extension specialist in the Department of Soil, Water, and Climate at the University of Minnesota where he has a broad research program related to nutrient management for commodity crops in the state of Minnesota. His current research focuses on the use of soil testing and plant analysis for corn, soybean, and spring wheat, sulfur management in crop rotations, starter fertilizer use in corn, and the use and development of GIS based technologies for managing crop nutrients.

Presentation title: The A-B-C's and Y's of IDC in soybean

Presentation times:
Session A - Monday, 9:00 AM - 9:50 AM
Session B - Monday, 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM

Alex Lindsey
associate professor, Crop Ecophysiology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Dr. Alex Lindsey is an Associate Professor of Crop Ecophysiology in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science. Since joining the faculty in 2015, he has focused on how crops interact with environmental factors to influence growth and yield. He also teaches courses on crop production, plant physiology, and seed science and serves as coordinating advisor for the Agronomy specialization of the Sustainable Plant Systems major. Dr. Lindsey received his PhD in Agronomy from The Ohio State University in 2015 under Dr. Peter Thomison, and has been a Certified Crop Adviser since 2009 and Certified Professional Agronomist since 2016. Prior to coming to Ohio, he received his BS and MS degrees from Michigan State University.

Presentation title: Crops and cold rains: How crop stand can be affected by weather after early planting dates

Presentation times:
Session I - Tuesday, 8:00 AM - 8:50 AM
Session J - Tuesday, 9:00 AM - 9:50 AM

Brian McCornack
professor and head, Entomology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS

Brian McCornack is a Professor and Department Head of Entomology at Kansas State University with research, extension and teaching responsibilities. He has an integrated research program that facilitates the discovery and application of tangible solutions to emerging pest issues, including endemic and invasive species impacting soybean, corn, sorghum, wheat and other major crops across Kansas and the southern Great Plains. His primary interests include the development of ecological, as well as economical, management strategies for arthropods in agricultural systems. He has developed a wide range of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) tools for use on large commercial farms, including widely adopted economic injury levels and thresholds for invasive species, sampling plans for grain sorghum pests, and improved best management practices for economically important species and their natural enemies.

Presentation title: Dectes texanus – not just another boring insect

Presentation times:
Session G - Monday, 3:10 PM - 4:00 PM
Session H - Monday, 4:10 PM - 5:00 PM

Kraig McPeek
field office supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Moline, IL

Presentation title: Panel discussion on the impacts of the Endangered Species Act for Midwestern agriculture

Presentation times:
Session F - Monday, 2:00 PM - 2:50 PM

Dan Quinn
assistant professor, Agronomy and Extension Corn Specialist, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

Dr. Dan Quinn is currently an Assistant Professor of Agronomy and the Extension Corn Specialist at Purdue University. Dr. Quinn earned his B.S. and M.S. in Crop and Soil Science at Michigan State University and his Ph.D. in Plant and Soil Science at the University of Kentucky. His interdisciplinary research and extension program at Purdue works to improve the overall production, profitability, and environmental performance of Midwestern U.S. corn systems. Currently, Dr. Quinn’s research program includes studies examining yield physiology, agronomic management intensities, precision technologies, nutrient management, and cover crop use in corn production systems using large-scale and small-plot field research trials.

Presentation title: We didn't start the fire! Understanding wildfire smoke and heat stress impacts on corn

Presentation times:
Session E - Monday, 1:00 PM - 1:50 PM
Session F - Monday, 2:00 PM - 2:50 PM