Jonathan Coppess, J.D.

Jonathan W. Coppess' experience in federal policymaking guides his research, extension, and teaching in agricultural policy and law. His work connects the history of federal agricultural policy development to current policy development, specifically applied to risk management, and natural resource conservation.
More information: Coppess is the author of The Fault Lines of Farm Policy: A Legislative and Political History of the Farm Bill. He is also a frequent contributor to the farmdoc project, which provides analysis, tools, and data to help Cornbelt farmers make better decisions. Prior to joining the University of Illinois, Coppess served as Chief Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Administrator of the Farm Service Agency at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and as a Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Ben Nelson. Coppess volunteered with the Biden-Harris Presidential Transition, Agency Review Team for USDA and as a part-time special counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Prior to serving in Washington, DC, Coppess practiced law in Chicago. He grew up on his family’s farm in western Ohio.
Affiliations: Coppess is the Leonard and Lila Gardner Illinois Farm Bureau Family of Companies Endowed Associate Professor in Agricultural Policy in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He serves as a faculty extension specialist for Illinois Extension, also part of ACES.