Farm Tax Speaker Bios
Roger A. McEowen is the Professor of Agricultural Law and Taxation at Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, Kansas. He also teaches in the Agricultural Economics Department at Kansas St. University where he also provides Extension programming in agricultural law and taxation.
From 1991-1993, McEowen was in the full-time practice of law with Kelley, Scritsmier and Byrne in North Platte, Nebraska. From 1993-2004, he was an associate professor of agricultural law and extension specialist in agricultural law and policy at Kansas State. From mid-2004 through 2015, McEowen was the Leonard Dolezal Professor in Agricultural Law at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, where he was also the Director of the ISU Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation (CALT), which he founded.
He has published scholarly articles in various legal and tax journals, and is the author of Principles of Agricultural Law, an 850-page textbook/casebook that is updated twice annually, and a second 300-page book on agricultural law. His Agricultural Law and Taxation Blog contains over 100 detailed and fully annotated articles annually and is the most widely read agricultural law and taxation blog online. In mid-2017, Prof. McEowen's new book, Agricultural Law in a Nutshell, was published by West Academic Publishing Co. McEowen also authors the monthly publication, "Kansas Farm and Estate Law." In addition, he has co-authored Bureau of National Affairs (BNA) Tax Management Portfolios on the federal estate tax family-owned business deduction and the reporting of farm income, and is the lead author of a BNA portfolio concerning the income taxation of cooperatives. He is also the Editor of the Iowa Bar Tax Manual, and Estate Planning for Farmers and Ranchers and Family Business Organizations, both Thomson/West publications. His subscription-based Substack publications and videos on agricultural law and tax topics can be found at mceowenaglawandtax.substack.com
Prof. McEowen conducts approximately 80-100 seminars annually across the United States for farmers, agricultural business professionals, lawyers, and other tax professionals. He also conducts two radio programs each airing twice monthly heard across the Midwest and on the worldwide web. In addition, his two-minute radio program, "The Agricultural Law and Tax Report," is heard each weekday by over 2 million listeners on farm radio stations from NY to CA as well as SiriusXM 147. He also can be seen as a weekly guest on RFD-TV where he discusses various agricultural law and tax topics with the RFD-TV hosts.
He received a B.S. with distinction from Purdue University in Management in 1986, an M.S. in Agricultural Economics from Iowa State University in 1990, and a J.D. from the Drake University School of Law in 1991.
He is a member of the Iowa and Kansas Bar Associations and is admitted to practice in Nebraska.
Kristen Knudtson is presently the North Dakota State FSA Deputy State Director and Acting Program Director in charge of the Compliance programs. Kristen has been in the North Dakota State FSA Office since 2015.
The Acting Program Director responsibilities include Payment Eligibility and Payment Limitation, Conservation Compliance and Acreage Reporting programs in the North Dakota State Office.
Kristen, currently residing in Fargo with her family, grew up on a cow and calf operation in northern Missouri, where her family is still operating today.
Ron Dvergsten is in his 37th year serving Northwest Minnesota Farms as a Farm Business Management Instructor and as the Program Supervisor for 11 years at Northland Community and Technical College. For the past thirteen years, Ron has also been a part-time employee for Central Lakes College serving as a State FBM Database Member. Ron is also currently the newest Farm Advocate working as a private contractor with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. To round out his professional duties, Ron is a Director for American State Bank of Grygla, MN.
The NDSU graduate in Agriculture Education also attended UMC prior to transferring to NDSU. Ron served as the Vo-ag Instructor at Crookston Central High School for 5 years and as an Ag Loan Officer for Farm Credits Services of Grand Forks for 4 years prior to starting his FBM endeavors. Ron was raised on diversified farm in the Greenbush, MN area and currently lives in Thief River Falls, MN.
Greg Dvergsten obtained his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture Education and Agricultural Extension from North Dakota State University, May 1990. He has worked as a County Extension educator in North Dakota, 6 years as an agricultural loan officer in northern MN, and is currently beginning his 30th year as a Farm Business Management (FBM) Instructor with Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls, MN. Throughout his career he has worked with a wide range of both livestock and crop producers from early career to those producers’ nearing retirement and everywhere in between. Tax planning and management is one of the many key components of his FBM program.
