Benedict T Palen Jr

An expert on American agriculture, Benedict T. Palen, Jr. completed his bachelor of arts in history and political science at the University of Kansas and subsequently continued his education at the Northwestern University School of Law. To earn his juris doctor, Benedict T. Palen, Jr. wrote a thesis on agricultural investment partnerships and their tax status in the United States. He additionally studied at both Fordham University and New York University before working at New York-based law and investment banking firms, where he drew upon his expertise in taxation and gas and oil investment structuring.

In the mid-1980s, Benedict T. Palen, Jr. returned to his home state of Kansas to run a farm that had been in his family for five generations. He oversaw more than 100,000 acres of land and implemented innovative farming practices, such as no-till techniques and intensive crop rotation.

Today, Palen manages and co-owns Great Plains Farms, LLC, which produces organic and nonorganic crops, as well as cattle. In addition, he consults a range of different agricultural projects both domestically and abroad. Recently, he teamed with a sugar cane plant in Zimbabwe to help the operation implement vital new technologies.