Blain Nelson
Blaine Nelson is the Senior Economist on the Strategy, Research, and Analytics team at Farmer Mac. In his role, he analyzes trends within America’s agricultural sector, with areas of focus including farmland values, commodity prices, interest rates, and agricultural sector profitability. He disseminates this information to borrowers and lenders to help keep them well-informed about the environment they operate in and to help guide their decisions. Blaine was raised on a commercial row crop and dairy farm in Northern Minnesota and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Applied Economics from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree in Agricultural and Applied Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Michele Payn
Michele Payn, CSP, connects the people and science of food and farming as principal of Cause Matters Corp. She is known for being a community catalyst, a passionate advocate for global agriculture – and antagonizing people into action. Michele has worked with farmers in more than 25 countries and raised millions of dollars for 4-H & FFA. She is the author of four books, the new Science Story Speak, IPPY gold medalist Food Bullying, IPPY bronze medal winner Food Truths from Farm to Table, No More Food Fights!. Michele’s degrees are in Agricultural Communications and Animal Science from Michigan State University. She has earned the Certified Speaking Professional designation, awarded to less than 10% of professional speakers globally. She resides with her ‘city slicker’ husband and cow-loving daughter on a small farm in central Indiana.