Farming, Ranching & Agribusiness Conference - Webcast

Amanda is the Chief Executive Officer for the Oregon Wheat Commission (state commodity commission) and the Oregon Wheat Growers League (private growers association). She represents Oregon's wheat industry in local, state, national and international arenas.

Amanda previously served as the Executive Director for Mid-Columbia Economic Development District, a bi-state regional economic development entity supporting the Columbia Gorge region of Oregon and Washington. Under Amanda's leadership, the organization diversified regional economic initiatives to include additional opportunities for access to capital and regional industry sector development. Prior to MCEDD, Amanda worked in small business development.

Amanda graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Degree in Economics from Whitman College. She is an alumnus of the American Leadership Forum of Oregon and was a Marshall Memorial Fellow through the German Marshall Fund. She was raised and lives on a dryland wheat farm.

Robert Oakes is an Operations and Policy Analyst 3 in the Personal Income Tax and Compliance Division at the Oregon Department of Revenue. Robert spent 20 years in California state government, primarily as a Legislative Director and Communications Director in the State Senate at the California Capitol. He graduated from Lewis & Clark College and attended the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of Oregon.

(9/3/21)

Daron Prara is an Oregon Department of Revenue tax policy analyst in the Personal Income Tax and Compliance Division. He has been with the department for over 17 years working out of the Medford and Salem field offices and now the Salem main building. He has been an auditor, senior auditor, and policy analyst in the personal income tax program and an analyst in the corporate activity tax program. Daron graduated from Oregon Institute of Technology with a Bachelor's degree in business management and accounting.

(12/27/21)

Carl's passion for business and strategy grew from his involvement as a third-generation owner in his family's diversified business based in Roseburg, Oregon. In his consulting work, Carl balances lessons learned from clients throughout the Northwest with a firsthand perspective as a family member and shareholder in the Sohn family enterprises.

Over the past 17 years, Carl has held various roles at Farm Credit. In his current role, Carl is responsible for AgWest's customer consulting practice, Business Management Center, Industry Teams, and Learning Advising function. Carl has been an advisor working directly with family businesses and boards to develop succession plans and strategic plans for over 12 years.

Carl holds an undergraduate degree in finance and management from Boston College, a master's degree in organizational leadership and servant leadership from Gonzaga University and a Certificate in Family Business Advising from the Family Firm Institute. He is also a member of the American Society for Agricultural Consultants and a graduate of the Washington AgForestry Leadership Program. Carl is a board member of Second Harvest, a regional food bank that distributes over 31 million pounds of free food each year to help people in need throughout 26 counties in Eastern Washington and North Idaho. He and his wife live in Spokane, Washington with their two sons.

Kristine Tidgren is an adjunct assistant professor in the Agricultural Education & Studies Department and the director of the Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation (CALT) at Iowa State University. She speaks and writes frequently on agricultural law and tax matters, with a special emphasis on farm tax issues. Kristine's writing includes The Ag Docket, an online blog, as well as monthly articles for farm publications and chapters for tax school workbooks. She regularly instructs attorneys, CPAs, EAs, and other tax professionals regarding agricultural law & tax matters. She is an active member of the Rural Tax Education Committee, which yearly works with IRS to review and update Publication 225, the American Agricultural Law Association (chair of the distance education committee), and the Land Grant University Tax Education Foundation. Kristine also teaches an undergraduate agricultural law class each spring semester to around 105 seniors at Iowa State University's College of Agriculture. Kristine received her J.D., Order of the Coif, from the University of Texas at Austin, and her undergraduate degree from Iowa State University. She grew up on a farm in west central Iowa.

(2/9/21)