Ronald D Knutson

"Ronald D. Knutson" is a professor emeritus at Texas A&M University. He was formerly the director of the Agricultural and Food Policy Center (AFPe, which specializes in studies for the Agriculture Committees of the U.S. Congress. Dr. Knutson taught undergraduate students agricultural and food policy for 28 years and performed much the same function in Extension with farmers and agribusiness persons. His research specialty is dairy policy, where he has served as the chair of several USDA and...See more

"Ronald D. Knutson" is a professor emeritus at Texas A&M University. He was formerly the director of the Agricultural and Food Policy Center (AFPe, which specializes in studies for the Agriculture Committees of the U.S. Congress. Dr. Knutson taught undergraduate students agricultural and food policy for 28 years and performed much the same function in Extension with farmers and agribusiness persons. His research specialty is dairy policy, where he has served as the chair of several USDA and industry studies. Prior to joining the A&M faculty, Knutson was the chief economist for the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service and the Administrator of the Farmer Cooperative Service. He has a B.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and an M.S. from Pennsylvania State University. "J.B. Penn" is the USDA's Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services. He serves as policy advisor to the Secretary of Agriculture as well as having responsibility for international trade policy, domestic farm policy, and risk management policy along with the agencies conducting programs in these areas. Dr. Penn came to the USDA from Sparks Companies, Inc., where he was senior vice president and manager of the Washington, D.C. office. He formerly served as senior staff economist for President Carter's Council of Economic Advisers and deputy administrator for economics of the USDA's then Economics and Statistics Service. He holds a B.S. from Arkansas State University, an M.S. from Louisiana State University, and a Ph.D. from Purdue University. "Barry L. Flinchbaugh" is a professor and Extension state leader for agricultural economics at Kansas State University. Recognized by K-State asbeing an outstanding teacher, he also lectures throughout the United States on policy issues. Professor Flinchbaugh has been a close advisor to congresspeople as well as USDA officials from Kansas and other states. He was the chairman of the Commission on 21st Century Production Agriculture authorized in the 1996 Farm Bill to assist in evaluating and charting future policy direction. Flinchbaugh also served as special assistant for information and public affairs to the president of Kansas State University. He has a B.S. and an M.S. from Pennsylvania State University and a Ph.D. from Purdue University. See less