Asa Dolbow Vann

Asa Dolbow Vann is a graduate student in Agricultural Economics at Purdue University, where he is expected to complete his M.S. in August 2027. He earned a B.S. in Agricultural Economics from Purdue. Raised on a small farm in Arbuckle, California, he developed early ties to agriculture through his family’s cow/calf operation.

His research interests include market microstructure, basis behavior, volatility, and producer decision-making. As a graduate research assistant under Trey Malone, he studies relationships between the Ag Economy Barometer and broader economic indicators.

Professionally, Asa gained commercial experience at ADM’s Des Moines hub, performing junior merchandiser duties such as writing grain contracts, hedging transactions against the CBOT, and creating tools to project quarterly soybean stocks by county. At ADMIS on the Chicago Board of Trade, he developed automated basis reports and examined the integration of technical and fundamental analysis in trading strategies.

As an undergraduate, he co-founded and led the Purdue Boilermakers Markets Club, served as Risk Manager for Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity, and competed with the Purdue National Agri-Marketing Association, winning the 2024 national championship after reaching the finals in both 2022 and 2023. Upon completing his M.S., he intends to pursue a career at the intersection of agriculture, trade, and national security.