Doane - Doane - About Us

About us

Ag Information for a Dynamic World
Agricultural producers and those making decisions impacted by the complex relationships that exist for world food, fiber, and other agriculturally derived goods need sound information and analysis. Incorporating critical signals from the marketplace, from Washington, and from experts who know the complicated business of agricultural production, distribution, and marketing is essential. For more than 90 years, Doane Advisory Services has been in the business of helping U.S. agriculture stay in touch with prices, trends and other critical business information

Yes, the world of agriculture is dynamic, and the demand for trusted information and advice continues to grow. That's one reason Doane Advisory Services continues to expand. Our communication efforts and audiences are as dynamic as the world we do business in. We're providing trusted information to a dynamic world, and we want to help grow your business and the clients you serve.

We're proud of our diverse product line and our broad reach.

Doane's History
Doane Advisory Services is the multi-media provider of choice for trusted information, advice and business solutions to agriculture. Our mission is built upon the legacy of our founder D. Howard Doane. He had an unwavering vision of a more efficient, productive agriculture, with its strength lying more in people than in the land.

In 1919, Mr. Doane set course on a lifetime of work and was intent on helping producers apply enterprising character and their labor and management skills to successful farming operations. Doane Advisory Services has evolved over the last 92 years from D. Howard Doane's legendary vision.

In 1916, Mr. Doane resigned from government work to be a trust company farm manager and appraiser. Other land owners soon came to him for help, and he saw the opportunity to create a new business venture. In 1919, he formed Doane Consulting Service in Poplar Bluff, MO.

He moved the company to St. Louis in 1923, where he changed the name to Doane Agricultural Services and hired his first five employees. In addition to farm management, the young company did farm loan field work, rural appraising and farm accounting.

Farm management as a profession took a leap forward during its infancy in the 1920s with the formation of the American Society of Farm Managers (later to include rural appraisers). Mr. Doane was active in organizing that association and in establishing the high standards followed to this day by its members. He served as its first president for nine years.

In 1938, a reference manual, which was regularly updated to provide current farming information to the company's farm manager staff was expanded into a bi-monthly newsletter called the DAS Agricultural Digest. The name was later changed to Doane's Agricultural Report.

In 2005, Doane was acquired by Vance Publishing Corporation, a leading business-to-business integrated media company that serves the agriculture industry with respected brands such as Drovers CattleNetwork, Dairy Herd Management, Pork, The Packer and The Grower among others. Founded in 1937, Vance is headquartered in Lincolnshire, IL, with additional offices in Lenexa, KS, and St. Louis, MO.

Our Team of Economists

Each Doane economist has years of experience in the commodities they cover. This level of experience provides Doane economists the insight to interpret major macro changes while understanding the fundamental economic factors. We are not a trading firm. Our clients can trust that Doane's advice and analysis is based solely on their interests and needs.

Rich Pottorff - Chief Economist
Mr. Pottorff oversees forecast management and the development of products and services to meet the needs of Doane's global clientele. Rich has more than 25 years of experience analyzing and forecasting development in the United States and world agriculture.

Marty Foreman - Senior Economist
Mr. Foreman is the grains analyst for Doane and has been with the company since 1996. He has 25 years of experience in commodity research and analysis. Previously he worked as a Market analyst and advisor for Agrivisor Services and as a Commodities Buyer for Topco Associates

Sam Funk - Senior Economist
Mr. Funk has provided analysis of production systems and procurement strategies for biofuel refineries, and worked with producers to incorporate sound economic reasoning into their investment decision making process. Sam leads special projects and consulting for Doane.

Dan Manternach - Senior Economist
Mr. Manternach is the wheat analyst for Doane. He has over 33 years of experience in the commodities forecasting and advisory business. He is former President of Professional Farmers of America and was a VP at Sparks Companies of Memphis (now Informa, Inc.)

Bill Nelson - Senior Economist
Mr. Nelson is the soybean analyst for Doane. He has over 30 years of experience in the commodities forecasting and advisory business. He was previously with Doane from 1984 to 2000, serving as the AgServ Manager and the wheat market analyst.

Hart Barham - Economist
Ms. Barham is the cotton economist for Doane, and has been with the company since 2007. She has a M.S. in Agricultural Economics from Texas A&M University and a B.S. in Agriculture Business and Economics from Auburn University.

Greg Scheer - Economist
Mr. Scheer has worked for Doane for 15 years and specializes in the dairy sector. In addition to his dairy responsibilities he also analyzes the livestock and crop markets. He graduated from the University of Missouri with an Agriculture Economics degree.