Speaker Sessions

Matt Clark is Terrain’s senior rural economy analyst, focusing on the impacts of interest rates, land values and other macroeconomic trends on agriculture. As a part of the Terrain team of economists, he delivers expert analysis to the customers of American AgCredit, Farm Credit Services of America and Frontier Farm Credit.

Matt previously worked as the senior industry analyst with American AgCredit, one of the largest associations in the Farm Credit System, and as an assistant economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. He has an extensive background analyzing and forecasting key commodities such as wine grapes, field crops, dairy, beef, permanent plantings and forest products; providing macroeconomic analysis, statistical validation of risk models; and chairing various commodity and risk analysis committees. Matt earned his BS and MS degrees in agricultural economics from Kansas State University.

Allison’s primary practice areas are estate planning, probate, agriculture, business formation, real estate, and water and natural resources.

Growing up on a farm outside of Henderson, Nebraska, Allison developed a love of agriculture early on, sparking her passion for farm and ranch succession planning. She understands that every farm and ranch operation is different and that there is no one-size-fits all estate or succession plan. Allison recognizes that farming and ranching presents unique estate and succession planning challenges due to family ties to the land and rising agricultural real estate prices. She works closely alongside her clients to learn what is truly important to them so she can help create a plan that will achieve their goals.

Allison has also represented clients who find themselves in the midst of family feuds that present difficult scenarios, such as how to divide their parents’ farm and ranch assets, particularly when parents pass without an estate plan or one that is poorly drafted. She uses these experiences to create successions plans for her clients that avoid the same pitfalls and potential family quarrels.

Allison joined the firm after receiving her Juris Doctor from the University of Nebraska College of Law, where she graduated with High distinction and received several academic and writing awards. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration, with minors in economics and political science, from Hastings College in 2018.

Allison is actively involved in the Kearney community and serves on the Leadership Kearney Board, Kearney Area Children’s Museum Board, and is a graduate of Leadership Kearney Class #32.

Dan Lindstrom was raised on a family grain and livestock farm near Atlanta, Nebraska with family farmland in both Phelps and Buffalo Counties.He holds a B.S. degree in Agriculture (Animal Science) from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Nebraska College of Law.He returned to Central Nebraska in 1986 to begin the practice of law at the Kearney law firm now known as Jacobsen, Orr, Lindstrom & Holbrook, P.C. (“Jacobsen Orr”), where he continues to practice law as Senior Counsel, after previously serving for over a decade as the President and Managing Shareholder.

For almost 40 years, Dan has represented farm and ranch families, agribusiness companies, other businesses and political subdivisions on agricultural, water, real estate, renewable energy, corporate, planning and development issues, including extensive litigation of those issues, and he has mentored other attorneys in Jacobsen Orr to develop similar areas of expertise.Notably, he has held a general corporate counsel role in KAAPA Ethanol from its outset startup stage through its present success, spanning more than two decades.

In his practice with farm and ranch families, Lindstrom spends an increasing amount of time working on family succession and estate planning issues.(See Dan’s more extensive bio here: https://jacobsenorr.com/dan-lindstrom/).

Mike Stephens considers himself privileged to have traveled and worked across North America—from east of the 100th Meridian to west of the Rocky Mountains and into the interior of Alaska. His career has also taken him overseas, where he worked in Afghanistan educating agricultural ministry extension agents on the benefits of multi-system resource management in developing agricultural systems.

Throughout his career, Mike has visited, assisted, and consulted with land stewards of every kind, supporting conservation and monitoring efforts across a vast range of landscapes and ecoregions. Building relationships, fostering a deep understanding of the land, and cultivating a genuine care for both people and ecosystems are at the heart of his work. Mike meets land stewards wherever they are in their agricultural journey and strives to inspire regenerative decisions—both above and below the soil surface.

Currently, Mike serves on the Precision Agronomy team at CPI, where he supports the organization’s entire service area by engaging and educating patrons on conservation, carbon, and technological opportunities available through CPI.

Mike’s foundation in land management stems from his academic background at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, where he earned degrees in Soil and Crop Sciences and Restoration/Rangeland Ecology. His early career included managing a university research farm, followed by many years in federal service with the USDA, serving both the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the U.S. Forest Service.

Brian Shafer is the owner and president of Triple S Millwright. He has been in the millwright industry for 26 years. Brian started out as millwright crane operator and worked his way into sales, project design and management. In 2021 his two sons, Josh and Matt, and himself made a life decision to venture into their own business. Between all of them, at Triple S Millwright, they have nearly 50 years of experience and hope to continue growing strong in the years to come.

Tom Ashmore is the Territory Sales Representative for AGI Digital. He’s been with AGI for 4 plus years. Tom has spent all his life in the Ag Industry; he grew up in Western Nebraska on a family farm. He spent the first ½ of his career selling John Deere equipment and eventually got into the technology side of Ag and spent some time with a couple startup companies selling farm management software and that landed him to AGI. He is passionate about bringing a quality product to the market that provides safety, remote visibility, automation and a return on your investment.