Ben Brown is a senior research associate with the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI), leading farm-level and sectoral outreach initiatives. He routinely works with the University of Missouri Extension’s Agricultural Business and Policy team, also within the Division of Applied Social Sciences at the university. A native of Western Missouri (Bates County), growing up on a diversified row crop and cattle operation, Brown was active in 4-H and FFA, leading to his passion for Extension.
Ben received undergraduate degrees from Kansas State University in 2015 in agricultural economics and agronomy. He received a Master’s in agricultural and applied economics from the University of Missouri, where he was a graduate assistant at FAPRI. Prior to joining MU, he was an associate professor of professional practice at The Ohio State University, leading farm management education in Ohio. His work focuses on U.S. farm policy, commodity markets, and farm finance. Recent work includes analysis of impacts to crop basis under extreme weather scenarios, examination of U.S. agricultural producer consolidation, educational seminars for agricultural lenders, farm policy education to producers and agricultural service providers, weekly grain market outlooks, and hosting international trade groups interested in U.S. agriculture.