James Mintert is a professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and serves as director of the Center for Commercial Agriculture. Jim joined Purdue's faculty in 2009 and worked as the assistant director of Extension for agriculture and natural resources before taking on his director responsibilities at the center. Prior to his time at Purdue, Jim was a professor and Extension state leader in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University for 23 years. He holds a bachelor's and master's degree in agricultural economics from Purdue University and a doctorate from the University of Missouri. Over the course of his career, Jim has received numerous awards, including Outstanding Extension Program Awards from both the American Agricultural Economics Association and the Western Agricultural Economics Association, in addition to the American Agricultural Economics Association's Premier Forecaster Award for his livestock production and price forecasts. Jim is also the author of more than 200 publications focusing on the economics of the livestock industry.

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.