Jacob Lionberger

Jacob Lionberger, from Dallas City, Illinois, is a Master of Science student in Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and Consumer Economics in 2024 with a concentration in Agribusiness, Markets, and Management and a minor in Leadership Studies.

Growing up in production agriculture and working firsthand on his family’s operation shaped Lionberger’s interests in farm profitability, conservation practice adoption, and economic decision-making. His graduate research focuses on the economics of cover crops, alternative tillage systems, and nutrient loss reduction in Midwestern row-crop systems. Using four years of field trial data, enterprise budgets, and NRCS incentive structures, he evaluates how conservation systems perform under real-world variability and how risk influences producer adoption.

Lionberger has taught in the College of ACES, and for his efforts and leadership in the classroom, he was rated an Excellent Instructor by students. His professional goals include advancing agricultural policy, conservation program evaluation, and decision-support tools that help farmers make informed, economically sound decisions.