Nebraska Cooperative Council provides ag econ professorship

Nebraska

The Nebraska Cooperative Council is funding a new distinguished professorship in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's agricultural economics department, cementing an important, long-time partnership between the university and the state's co-ops.

Dennis Conley assumed the new professorship July 1. Conley has a long history of work experience both within the grain industry and the cooperative system. In previous positions, he has worked at a regional cooperative and when he was at the University of Illinois, he coordinated the delivery of cooperative education programs for the state of Illinois.

"This is a continuation of a long history this department has had of working with the co-ops of Nebraska," said Alan Baquet, head of UNL's Department of Agricultural Economics.

Conley said his work with the cooperative council will focus on helping with its outreach education program and its agribusiness and agricultural marketing efforts. Conley added that some of his research areas--including increased ethanol production and the effect disasters could have on grain trade--will fit well with co-op priorities.

Bob Andersen, president of the Nebraska Cooperative Council, noted that the roots of the council's partnership with the university were planted when the council was formed in 1945 and continued for many years under the leadership of now-retired professor Mike Turner, who spent a large part of his time on co-op director education.

Others in the ag economics department also have been involved, but this new professorship formalizes the relationship.

"We have some outstanding cooperative management teams," Andersen said. "Success depends on a commitment to continuing education."

UNL fills that need well, he added. "You really need to have that independent, third-party professional expertise for the cooperatives. That knowledge, that research and those educational programs are absolutely essential," Andersen said.

The agricultural economics department is part of the university's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Date: 8/24/06

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