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Sep. 4, 2026
By Zoe Seiler, (Iowa) Business Record After decades of teaching and studying the crop market, Chad Hart retired from Iowa State University effective Aug. 14. Known as "Dr. Doom," Hart had a way of giving farmers an often rough market analysis delivered in a kind, entertaining way. Hart spent his career talking with farmers about their pricing and financial concerns. "He deeply cares about Iowa agriculture," said John Crespi, director of the Iowa State Center for Agricultural and Rural Development. "He cares so much he tells the truth. He's earned the nickname, 'Dr. Doom,' but he is called that out of deep respect for his honesty." For 18 years, Hart served as an economics professor and crop market specialist at Iowa State, where he dug into the details of corn and soybean price fluctuations and the nature of Iowa's agriculture economy. Growing up, his parents raised a few cattle and operated a small meat locker in his hometown in southwest Missouri. Farmers didn't, and still don't, raise crops in the area but Hart has been around agriculture his entire life. "In that sense, I'm well-versed in talking about the markets and what's going on within agriculture because I've grown up around it," Hart said. Going into college at Southwest Missouri State University, Hart didn't know what he wanted to study. He studied math, economics, history and astronomy before making a final choice. "I cycled through majors until I got into my junior year, and finally, one of the advisers there got a hold of me, and he goes, 'You got to just pick one and stick with it.' I'm like, 'OK, what have I got the most hours in?' He's like, 'Astronomy, but we don't offer that as a major,'" Hart said. Economics was next highest on the list so Hart told his adviser, "I guess I'm an economist." He earned a bachelor's degree in economics and pursued a graduate degree at Iowa State University, earning a doctorate in economics and statistics in 1999. "As soon as I got out of undergrad and started graduate school, I went to Iowa State and I've been there ever since," Hart said. Soon after graduating, Hart joined the university's Center for Agricultural and Rural Development as a research scientist. He also served as the United States policy and insurance analyst with the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute. Hart became part of the economics faculty in 2008. As a professor, Hart's fields of interest included topics related to the World Trade Organization and international trade, biofuel policy and crop marketing. He taught students to evaluate futures, options and financial marketing tools within an agricultural context. That includes looking at how corn and soybean prices from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange link back to prices in Central Iowa. Throughout his career, Hart has found economics interesting as the markets constantly change and economists have to adjust to new information. To read entire report, Click Here. Tweet |
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