Michael is the Director of Cropping Systems for the Center for Commercial Agriculture in the Department of Agricultural Economics Department at Purdue University.  He received a B.S. and M.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1984 and 1986, and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University in 1990.  Michael’s extension and research interests include crop insurance, cropping systems, benchmarking, financial management, land markets, risk management, strategic management, and transition planning.  He has presented material on these topics to state, national, and international audiences.  In addition to his extension and research work, Michael has taught courses in agricultural finance, economic theory, farm management, and risk management.