Steve Sonka is Emeritus Chaired Professor of Agricultural Strategy at the University of Illinois. Currently, he also serves as a Fellow at the Ed Snider Center for Enterprise and Markets at the University of Maryland and as Senior Economist at the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center. Dr. Sonka received a Bachelor’s degree (1970, with distinction) and a Ph.D. degree (1974) in economics from Iowa State University. Dr. Sonka joined the University of Illinois faculty in 1975. He also has held assignments with the Monsanto Corporation, New Zealand’s AGMARDT Foundation, Arthur Andersen & Co. and the Institute of Agribusiness, Santa Clara University. In 1982, he cofounded the Centrec Consulting Group, LLC, in Savoy, Illinois, and was a partner there for more than 25 years. Dr. Sonka’s teaching and research emphasize strategic change and decision-making in the food and agribusiness sector. In 1983, he authored Computers in Farming, the first text devoted to computer use in the sector. His interest and involvement in the application of information technologies have continued through PCs, the internet, precision agriculture, Big Data and now digital agriculture. He has authored or coauthored over 220 books, articles and publications.
Gary D. Schnitkey is a Professor in the Department of Agricultural Consumer Economics and Soybean Industry Chair in Agricultural Strategy at the University of Illinois. He completed his B.S. in Agricultural Finance at the Ohio State University in 1982 and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics at the University of Illinois, in 1984 and 1987, respectively. His activities focus on farm and risk management on Corn Belt grain farms. He analyzes profitability of farms and develops ways of mitigating risk on farms. He has developed computer tools for examining commodity title alternatives and crop insurance alternatives that appear on farmdoc. He uses Farm Business Farm Management (FBFM) data on revenue and costs to analyze the profitability of major field crops and to assess the impacts of farm programs and risk management strategies.
