About the Speakers
Dr. David Kohl
Professor Emeritus
Virginia Tech
Dr. Kohl is an academic Hall of Famer in the College of Agriculture at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA. Dr. Kohl has keen insights into the agriculture industry, gained through extensive travel, research, and involvement in Ag Business. He has traveled over 10 million miles; conducted more than 7,000 presentations; and published more than 2,500 articles in his career. Dr. Kohl’s wisdom and engagement with all levels of the industry provide a unique perspective into future trends. You don’t want to miss Dr. Kohl’s teachings and his insights into the economic future.
Jolene Brown
CSP, CPAE
Professional Speaker, Author, and Family Business Consultant.
Jolene is a real-life farmer, speaker and author, and has a great passion to create a positive impact on the agriculture industry. She gives top insights through laughter, interaction, and relatable stories. Jolene has made it her life mission to help the thousands of farmers, growers, and ranchers share their stories with the wider world, and help families build a legacy with her experience to grow, fix and transition their businesses. Jolene will include a hands-on 2-hour workshop interacting with conference attendees to help work through roadblocks and transitional planning for their business.
Eric Snodgrass
Science Fellow and Principal Atmospheric Scientist
Nutrien Ag Solutions
Eric Snodgrass is a Sr. Science Fellow for Nutrien Ag Solutions, where he develops predictive, analytical software solutions to manage weather risk for global production agriculture. He provides frequent weather updates that focus on how high-impact weather events influence global agriculture productivity. His current research uses machine learning to better understand field-level weather impacts on yields in the US and to increase confidence in long-range weather prediction. He presents his research as a featured speaker at over 100 conferences annually where he provides logistical guidance and solutions to weather sensitive financial institutions, farmers, commodity traders, and other stakeholders. He was recently awarded the Educator Award in 2023 for Distinguished Service to America’s High Technology Agriculture by the Mid America CropLife Association.
Arlan Suderman
Chief Commodities Economist
StoneX Group
Arlan is the Chief Commodities Economist for StoneX Group Inc. – FCM Division, a financial services provider for global markets. Suderman oversees the company’s commodity markets’ intelligence efforts. He provides unique market insights on global macro-economic trends and their implications for the commodity markets. Suderman is a leading commentator in the Ag commodity sector, with particular expertise in the interaction with the broader markets.
Jeffrey W. Kennedy
MSTA, CFTe, CMT, CEWA-M
Chief Technical Analyst
Water Street Advisory
Jeffrey is the Chief Technical Analyst for Water Street Solutions and Kennedy Tech Charts, and is recognized internationally as a professional technical analyst, educator, and author. He has been in this field for over 30 years, and provides analysis and insights into market forecasting, understanding the language of technical analysis and how psychology impacts trading.
Darren Frye
Owner and CEO
Water Street Solutions
Darren is the CEO of Water Street Solutions and has a passion for helping farmers navigate the commodity marketing terrain. He grew up in Illinois agriculture on an innovative farming enterprise that stretched from a poultry operation consisting of turkeys and layers, to an orchard, to a helicopter crop dusting business. He started his first agriculture business in 1987, specializing in fertilizer distribution and crop consulting. His genuine concern for the success of farmers propelled him to start his own consulting business in 1994. Water Street Solutions helps farmers across the Midwest with profitability through financial analysis and commodity marketing. He has traded commodities since 1982 and is a dynamic speaker and leader in the agriculture industry.
