Joy Kirkpatrick has worked for the University of Wisconsin for 31 years. She began her Extension career as a county-based Extension educator. She is now a statewide farm management outreach specialist for UW-Madison Division of Extension. In this position she collaborates with colleagues to provide educational programs and information on farm succession planning. She has extensive experience facilitating farm succession discussions with farm businesses and farm families. Joy grew up on a farrow–to–finish hog farm in Southern Illinois, the youngest of seven. She is honored to work with farm families on some of their most personal issues when working on farm succession planning. She has written articles on retirement planning for farmers and taught seminars throughout the US on farm succession facilitation. Kirkpatrick co-developed the Certified Farm Succession Coordinator training with John Baker that has certified over 350 participants in farm succession planning. She is a certified Mental Health First Aid trainer. Kirkpatrick received both her BS and MS degrees from Southern Illinois University – Carbondale.
