A gift grown from an unlikely love story

For more than three decades, John Otte played a pivotal role in providing economic analysis and guidance to readers of Prairie Farmer magazine and other Farm Progress publications across the Midwest. He addressed complex economic topics in a way that resonated with farmers’ everyday decision‑making.

Yet, this University of Illinois agricultural economics graduate with bachelor’s and master’s degrees and additional studies at Iowa State University says it was his Brazilian wife, Maria, whose early education ended in sixth grade, who made it possible for them to give back to his alma mater.

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