Joe Horner

Joe was born and raised on a family farm near Cassville, Missouri. Their farm raised beef cattle, dairy heifers, alfalfa hay and custom hay making. Joe received a B.S. in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri in 1985 and an M.S. in agricultural economics from the University of California, Davis in 1987.

In 1988, Joe became a regional extension dairy and farm management specialist for the University of Missouri. He worked for in southeast Missouri for 12 years before moving to a Columbia in 2000 to serve with the Commercial Agriculture Beef and Dairy Teams. Since moving to the MU campus he has worked with dairy producers statewide assisting them in benchmarking their business, developing farm expansion projections, and learning to managing margin risk. Extension programs he created included the Missouri Dairy Business Update newsletter published monthly for 19 years and the Missouri Dairy Resource Guide, an online site curating educational materials for dairy farmers. In total, Horner has worked for extension for 34 years. Joe also dedicated his time as the executive secretary for the Missouri Dairy Hall of Honors for about five years.

In his extension career, Joe has received several honors: 2019 MU Extension Teamwork Award – Missouri Grazing Schools; 2018 David E. Baker Distinguished Extension Programmatic Leadership Award; 2009 Donald W. Fancher Provost Award for Outstanding Achievement in Extension; 2008 Vice Provost’s Award for Outstanding Achievement, University of Missouri Extension; and 2006 J.W. Burch State Specialist Award, University of Missouri Extension.

Joe and his wife Vanessa reside in Columbia and have one daughter Mila.