First Farmers Bank & Trust will hold their annual Ag Client Seminar in just a few short weeks. Please read below to learn more about the speakers at this year's event.
Terry L. Schmidt serves as Assistant General Counsel in the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Legal Affairs Real Estate Investments Group. Mr. Schmidt advises the Agricultural Investments group at Metropolitan Life Insurance Company with respect to its agricultural investments portfolio.
He has over 25 years of experience advising companies in the agricultural investments industry. The focus of his practice is on structuring agribusiness lending transactions and commercial agribusiness lending transactions with triple net leases. He also advises the Risk Management Group at MetLife with respect to insurance and environmental matters.
Terry offers a detailed perspective on the understanding and implementation of wind farm leases being proposed to various segments of traditional agricultural properties. Significant parcels of land are now subject to the possibility of wind farm development and the infrastructure requirements that accompany many of these projects are key points that need to be understood by a number of parties. Mr. Schmidt’s goal for this presentation is to aid in the general awareness on lease details as well as provide a general overview on wind farm development.
Mr. Schmidt is originally from Minnesota and currently resides in Kansas. He received a B.A. degree from Yankton College (summa cum laude) and a Juris Doctorate Degree from California Western School of Law (cum laude). He is a member of the South Dakota State Bar Association and also admitted to practice in the Federal District Court for the District of South Dakota and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
John Schwarz, II is an Agricultural Attorney and Founder of FarmLegacy.com. John was raised on a family farm near Stroh, Indiana where he was instilled with family values and a strong work ethic. He graduated from Prairie Heights High School and later obtained an engineering degree from Tri-State University. After working in the automotive industry for a few years, he decided to go to law school to earn a law degree. He intended to use his engineering degree and law degree to work as a patent attorney.
While in law school John served as an intern at the Indiana Farm Bureau headquarters in Indianapolis where he assisted in developing favorable policies and laws for Indiana farmers. It was there that John came to two realizations: First, the farming communities in Indiana were in need of individuals who knew the law and knew agriculture. Second, being part of a family farm was something special, and working in a patent law office would cause him to be too far removed from his family farm.
Upon completion of his legal studies from the Indiana School of Law-Bloomington, John returned to his hometown to practice law. John primarily practices in the area of agricultural law. In addition to being a practicing attorney, John is also actively involved in his family's 2500 acre grain farming operation. This makes John one of only a handful of Indiana residents who are both a farmer and attorney.
John has contributed articles to Farm World Magazine, Indiana Prairie Farmer Magazine, the Indianapolis Star, and various local newspapers.
The keynote speaker for this event is Stan Howell. Stan serves as Global Leader of the North America Regional Commercial Unit at Dow Agro Sciences. He assumed this role in September 2002. In 2004, Howell assumed additional responsibilities for the Pest Management business, and in 2005 the Mycogen Seeds commercial organization and Traits and Germplasm Licensing (T&GL) business were added to his purview. Prior to holding this position, he served as Global Leader of the Insect Management and North American Trade Area.
Howell joined The Dow Chemical Company in 1976 as a trainee in Memphis, Tennessee, and has served in a variety of positions since that time. From 1977 to 1980, Howell served as a Sales Representative in the Mid-South region. In 1981, he moved to Midland, Michigan to assume the role of Communications Manager for Specialty Products.
From 1982 to 1986, he held product management positions for Vegetation Management and General Pest/Technical Insecticides. Howell moved to Indianapolis, Indiana in 1986 to serve as Specialty District Sales Manager for the Midwest prior to being appointed Midwest Ag Sales Manager in 1987. In 1990, he was named Midwest Ag Marketing Manager, and held this post until 1993 when he assumed the role of Director of Business Services. He was appointed General Manager of the Midwest Business Unit in 1995 and Global Leader of the Insect Management Global Business Unit and North America Trade Area in 1998.
Howell received a bachelor's degree in marketing from Indiana University.
