Jerry Cessna

Briefly

Jerry Cessna has been the branch chief of the Animal Products and Cost of Production Branch (APCOP) of USDA’s Market and Trade Economics Division (MTED) since April 2022. APCOP provides:

• Commodity market information about animal products (livestock, dairy, and poultry).
• Estimates of costs and returns for selected agricultural commodities, including major crops and animal products.
• Economic research focused on domestic and international markets for animal products.
• Economic research about cost and returns for agricultural products.

Background

From April 2014 to April 2022, Jerry served as an agricultural economist for APCOP, specializing in outlook issues for the U.S. dairy industry. He was the lead author of the Dairy section for the monthly Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook. He served as the USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) representative on the Dairy Interagency Commodity Estimates Committee, which produces both short-term forecasts and long-term projections. He coauthored various types of ERS research publications, and he produced internal staff analyses for USDA agencies and executives.

Before joining ERS, Jerry spent 13 years as an agricultural economist with the USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), Dairy Program. During his tenure with AMS, he specialized in analyses of Federal Milk Marketing Orders, Research and Promotion Programs (informally known as Checkoff Programs), Mandatory Price Reporting, and the Dairy Forward Pricing Program.

Education

Master of Arts in Economics, Middle Tennessee University, 2000.

Bachelor of Business Administration, Baylor University, 1984.