Ag Summit Series 2025

John Baranick

DTN Ag Meteorologist

John has been a meteorologist with DTN since 2011. John uses his forecasts to comment on the various impacts weather has on different industries while helping customers make important business decisions. His commentary has been received by clients in the aviation, transportation, energy, and agriculture industries worldwide. John graduated from Iowa State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in meteorology and a minor in agronomy.

Dan Miller

Progressive Farmer Sr. Editor

Dan has been writing farm and ranch stories for 32 years. He came to The Progressive Farmer in October 2008 as the magazine’s Midwest Editor, based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Prior to that, he wrote for four years at Iowa Farmer Today, also in Cedar Rapids and for two years at the Dixon Evening Telegraph, in Dixon, Ill. Among the issues he has written about are the Farm Crisis of the 1980s, the presidential elections of 1988 (including interviews with then vice president George H.W. Bush, Al Gore, Bob Dole and Jesse Jackson), the Midwest’s 1993 floods, numerous farm bills, including the game-changing conservation programs of the 1980s, the introduction of genetically engineered crops, and tools and machinery. Dan was the editorial lead on PF’s six Idea House programs, beginning in 2003.

He has traveled widely across the United States, to Canada (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, World Trade Talks); to Germany for a look at farming practices there; to the former Soviet Union in 1989 where he reported on an agricultural system that was changing as rapidly as the nation’s political system, and to Finland where he wrote about that nation’s seaside fresh-food markets. Dan’s writing awards include two Oscars in Agriculture, Story of the Year — American Agricultural Editors Association — and business journalism’s Neal Award, among many others. Dan has lived in Chelsea, Alabama since 2003. He writes about land, land management, conservation, row crops, the ATV industry, shop design and structure, tools and equipment.

Rhett Montgomery

DTN Lead Market Analyst

Growing up on a western Nebraska farm, Rhett learned firsthand from his father’s practical, common-sense approach to grain markets. He began his career as a grain merchandiser and later worked with a Nebraska-based grain brokerage firm. Today, Rhett brings a grounded perspective to commodity market analysis—balancing seasonal price trends with insights into non-commercial market activity. He emphasizes the strategic use of forward contracts and other risk management tools to help producers protect their margins. Rhett holds a BA in Agricultural Economics from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

ShayLe Stewart

DTN Livestock Analyst

Based in the high mountain cattle country near Cody, Wyoming, ShayLe leads coverage in all areas of livestock and meat production, and brings a true boots-on-the-ground perspective to a livestock marketing world that gets increasingly difficult to navigate.

ShayLe grew up on a cow-calf and haying operation in south-central Montana, where her passion for the beef industry led her to Colorado State University, ultimately to an internship with the United States Cattlemen’s Association. Her experiences following markets for USCA were the springboard for her self-produced Cattle Market News website and Facebook outlets. Those weekly reports were a reliable source of compressed, easy-to-understand, digestible market information.

While her background is in the ranching West, ShayLe comes with a solid list of market contacts from around the country. Talking each week to sale barn owners, feed lot managers, and other industry experts, she is able to ask the questions that cattlemen need answered in order to find clarity in a complex and dynamic market.

ShayLe and her husband, Jimmy, run a registered herd of Sim-Angus females, and host an annual bull sale in Powell, Wyoming.