Ron currently holds the title of Harlan Agribusiness Professor Emeritus at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Professor Hanson accomplished a 46 year agribusiness teaching and student advising career that earned 31 university and national award recognitions. Ron was selected as the Outstanding Ag College Instructor, received the John Deere Agribusiness Teaching Award of Excellence, and was named as the University Educator of the Year.
Ron was the first University of Nebraska professor to receive the prestigious USDA Excellence in University Teaching Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture which is the top ranking national teaching honor granted in the area of agricultural and food sciences. His highest career honor was earned by being named the Nebraska Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation.
Ron was raised on an Illinois family farm and earned his undergraduate degree from Western Illinois University and his graduate degrees from the University of Illinois. He counseled with Nebraska farm families for more than 40 years to help them resolve family conflicts in a more positive manner and to improve family relations through better communications. His most recent efforts have been directed at farm business ownership succession and the transfer of management control between generations. He has been honored by the Nebraska Ag Youth Council, Nebraska Farm Bureau, Nebraska Agricultural Leadership Council and the Nebraska FFA Foundation for his dedicated service to both rural youth and farm families.
Through his publications and professional travels, Ron is recognized as a keynote program speaker on the topic of farm ownership succession planning and the transition of management control to the next generation of family farmers. https://passingonthefarm.com/about/
Related Website: Passing on the Farm
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Kristine is an adjunct assistant professor in the Agricultural Education & Studies Department and the director for the Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation. Kristine’s work focuses on studying and interpreting laws impacting the agricultural industry. In particular, she focuses on agricultural taxation.
Since joining CALT in 2013, Kristine has written hundreds of articles and blogposts to keep tax professionals, practicing attorneys, producers, and agribusiness professionals informed about legal developments impacting their business. She also writes technical chapters for the National Income Tax Workbook and regular articles for farm publications. In addition to her writing, Kristine speaks to many professionals and producers each year regarding tax and agricultural law topics. She also plans and provides instruction for CALT-hosted seminars, including the annual federal income tax schools.
Kristine teaches AgEds 451, a four-credit agricultural law class to upper-level undergraduate students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She also regularly collaborates with other agricultural law and tax professionals throughout the country, including those from the Rural Tax Education Committee, the American Agricultural Law Association, and the Land Grant University Tax Education Foundation. Kristine is licensed to practice law in Iowa and Missouri and is a member of the Iowa Bar Association.
Before coming to ISU, Kristine worked for a legal publishing company and as a practicing attorney. She received her J.D., Order of the Coif, from the University of Texas at Austin and her B.A. in journalism from Iowa State. She grew up on a farm in west central Iowa. www.ageds.iastate.edu/people/kristine-tidgren
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Steve Wellman became the 27th Director of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture in December 2017, after being appointed by Governor Pete Ricketts. Wellman brings a broad range of experience to the position having farmed in Nebraska for more than 30 years and also serving on various agricultural organizations and advisory committees at the federal, state and local level.
Wellman owns and operates a fourth generation family farm near Syracuse, Nebraska. His diversified family farm produces soybeans, corn, wheat, alfalfa and cattle. As Director, Wellman oversees all programs of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. His efforts include work on agriculture policy issues at both the state and national levels.
Wellman has been a leader in the Nebraska Soybean Association (NSA) and the American Soybean Association (ASA). He served on the ASA Board of Directors from 2006-2015 and was elected ASA President in 2012 and Chairman in 2013. He served on the NSA Board of Directors from 1998-2006 and was elected NSA president 2002-2003 and NSA chairman 2004-2005.
Wellman has also served on the USDA/USTR Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for Grains, Feeds, Oilseeds and Planting Seeds from 2011-2015, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission Agricultural Advisory Committee from 2013-2015 and the CME Group Agricultural Markets Advisory Council from 2013-2015. He has been involved with agriculture advisory committees for Gov. Ricketts and President Donald Trump.
Wellman has been active in promoting Nebraska agriculture products domestically and internationally, accompanying the Governor on a trade mission to Europe in 2015. Trade missions have been a key component of the governor's efforts to expand markets for and grow Nebraska agriculture.
An alumnus of the University of Nebraska’s College of Technical Agriculture, Wellman received a degree in production agriculture in 1981. He is a member of the American Farm Bureau, Nebraska Farm Bureau, Nebraska Cattlemen, Nebraska Corn Growers Association, Ag Builders of Nebraska and Outstanding Farmers of America. Wellman and his wife, Susan, have two adult children. https://nda.nebraska.gov/directorsoffice/index.html
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