Mike Doherty, Agriculture Economist, Good News!

In this episode, Mark and Sam learn that there is good news about the economy.  This week they talked with Mike Doherty.  Mike is an independent consulting economist. He is the contracted businessdevelopment manager for Decision Innovation Solutions, an analytics consulting firmbased in Des Moines, Iowa, and has consulted on behalf of USDA and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO).Doherty served as Senior Economist and Policy Analyst at the Illinois Farm Bureau from 2004 to 2023. He also served concurrently as the Executive Director of the Illinois Wheat Association from 2018 to 2023.At Illinois Farm Bureau, Doherty was responsible for research and policy analysis of agricultural production, farm income, rural economics, food prices and commodity marketing. Doherty provided analysis of external research projects, government policies, proposed legislation, biofuels markets, and other factors affecting the profitability of agriculture. Doherty provided monthly economic outlooks on the RFD radio network, quarterly outlooks on the Illinois farm economy to the IAA board and quarterly outlooks on McLean County’s economy at Economic Development Council luncheons. Doherty has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal and Crain’s Chicago Business and has been interviewed regularly on radio and television news programs for his insight on the Illinois agricultural economy. Before joining IFB, Doherty developed and led a statewide USDA Rural Development program, providing business planning, marketing, and financial analysis to value-added ag-business ventures in Illinois, Indiana, and the Carolinas. Prior to his experience with USDA-RD, he was a research associate in the Department of Economics at North Carolina State University and an educator for the North Carolina Extension Service. Doherty earned his B.S. in Economics at Illinois State University and his M.S. in Agricultural Economics from Clemson University in South Carolina. He has been an advisor and consultant to agriculture and rural development projects in Guatemala,Paraguay, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Palestine, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador. He also presented at agricultural outlook conferences in Brazil and Argentina.Doherty was raised on a farm near Merna, Illinois, and resides in Normal.