American Farmland Trust is a nonprofit organization that works to protect farmland, promote environmentally sound farming practices, and keep farmers on the land. AFT is staffed by farmers, policy experts, researchers and scientists. Joel Tatum works as the Midwest Solar Specialist, where he develops outreach programs and conducts research around the applicability of Agrivoltaics in the Midwest. Prior to joining AFT, He worked In the Solar Industry where he designed, sold and constructed Solar projects focused on Agriculture and small commercial settings. For the past 8 years Joel has worked in this sector helping farmers and ranchers navigate best practices when it comes to installing PV and designing small scale dual use projects used for distributed generation. Joel has also worked as an extension agent for University of Missouri as a Regional Agriculture Specialist where he implemented programs to help small farmers and ranchers with programs to help grow their operations. He has served on local Soil and Water groups as a Board member and has also been a past VP of MOSEIA, a solar energy association based in the Midwest. Joel is a graduate of Murray State University with a Masters in Agriculture/ Animal Science and owns a small cattle farm in Missouri.