The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has reorganized the agency and created four new operating divisions: Division of Data, Market Participants Division, Legal Division, and Division of Administration. The changes will take effect Nov. 8. Tamara Roust will serve as the Chief Data Officer and lead the Division of Data. Dan Bucsa, current chief of staff to Commissioner Dawn DeBerry Stump, who formerly led the Division of Market Oversight’s data and reporting branch, will join the Division of Data as deputy director. Joshua Sterling, current director of the Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight, will lead the new Market Participants Division. Daniel Davis, CFTC’s current General Counsel, will lead the Legal Division. Anthony Thompson, the CFTC’s current executive director, will lead the Division of Administration.
Nestlé Purina PetCare Co. has tapped Nina Leigh Krueger to serve as the company’s new president and CEO, effective Jan. 1. Krueger previously was the president of Nestlé Purina PetCare U.S. She succeeds Joseph Sivewright, who will transition to his new role of chairman.
Nina Leigh Krueger
Peggy Yih has been named managing director of the Global Food and Agriculture Program at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. For the last 15 years, she served in various capacities at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., most recently as the senior program officer with the Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources.
DaNita Murray has left the Senate Ag Committee and has joined the Glover Park Group as managing director of the food and agriculture team. Murray previously served on the Senate Ag Committee as chief counsel and policy director of the committee. She worked on many issues including: nutrition, forestry, pesticides, horticulture, hemp, organics, biotechnology, regulatory reform, trade and agricultural defense. Before joining the Senate Ag Committee, she served as counsel for the House Agriculture Committee and also held various roles at the Department of Agriculture.
According to a stakeholder announcement, the American Soybean Association has announced it is moving its government affairs department completely in house. Gordley Associates has represented ASA for many decades handling the association’s policy issues. ASA will work with Gordley Associates through the end of the 2020 calendar year and transition to an in-house team in early 2021.
Jennifer Coleman has been brought on to the Aimpoint Research team as the new director of communications. The Kentucky native previously worked for the Ohio Soybean Association, most recently as the director of communications.
Clint Rivers, president and CEO of Wayne Farms LLC, has been installed for a second term as 2020-2021 chairman of the National Chicken Council (NCC). Mark Kaminsky, COO of Koch Foods, was selected as vice chairman. Kevin Garland, CEO of Mountaire Farms, was elected to serve as Secretary-Treasurer. Mike Brown was elected to a 10th term as president of NCC.
Oregon Governor Kate Brown has appointed Elin Miller and Josh Zielinski to serve on the Oregon State Board of Agriculture, for four-year terms. The governor also re-appointed board members Bryan Harper and Luisa Santamaria each to a second four-year term. Miller and her husband own Umpqua Vineyards and farm hazelnuts. She currently serves as the co-chair of the Oregon Wine Council and is a member of the Fall Creek Farm and Nursery Board. Zielinski is a manager and owner of a mid-sized nursery and farming operation in the Willamette Valley. Zielinski serves on the Oregon Association of Nurseries' board and the Chemeketa Community College Horticultural Advisory Committee.
The National FFA Organization has elected six new officers to serve for the 2020-21 year. Elected as the national president is Doster Harper. He is from the state of Georgia and currently attends the University of Georgia, majoring in agriscience and environmental systems. Anna Mathis is from the state of Arkansas and attends the University of Arkansas where she is studying agricultural communications. She was elected as the national secretary. Elected central region vice president and from the state of Missouri is Paxton Dahmer, an agricultural education and leadership major at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Miriam Hoffman, an agribusiness economics major at Southern Illinois University, was elected eastern region vice president. David Lopez, an agricultural communications major at California Polytechnic State, was elected western region vice president. From the state of Florida, Artha Jonassaint, a government and global health major at Harvard, was elected southern region vice president.
National FFA Officers (Photo: www.ffa.org)
Riley Zoss is the new communications manager of the South Dakota Beef Industry Council. Most recently, Zoss was an admissions representative for Mitchell Technical College.
The American Butter Association has selected Marshall Reece, Associated Milk Producers Inc. senior vice president of sales and marketing, as the new president of the American Butter Institute. Serving as vice president is Catherine Fox of Land O’Lakes and serving as first vice president is Mark Armon of Darigold.
Daryl Shelton is the new executive vice president of RDO Equipment’s agriculture division. Shelton was previously in a similar role in the construction division. Kevin Johnson and Brook Stephens were promoted to regional vice president positions within the Midwest agriculture division. These changes were made due to the sad loss of Steve Connelly and Mark Kreps in a car accident.
A world-class plant breeder from Loveland, Colo., Joe Allen Smith, passed away on Oct. 21 due to a severe weather event that occurred while fishing in Idaho. He was 70. Smith is known for his contributions of releasing over 60 commercial wheat varieties for both the U.S. and western Canada. Throughout his 40-year career, Smith was dedicated to studying the wheat plant to find the right combination of traits: short stature, good disease resistance, and combination of high protein and high yield. His dedication and study produced the top two spring wheat varieties in North Dakota for the past five years.
President of JC Robinson Seed Co., Edward Temple Robinson Jr. passed away peacefully on Oct. 15, surrounded by friends and family. After graduating from the University of Nebraska and UNO, he joined the family seed business after the death of his father and led the operation as president for 55 years. He enjoyed photography, cooking, gardening, hunting, fishing, and boating.
Dr. Barry Flinchbaugh, an economist who influenced decades of U.S. farm policy and thousands of students and farm leaders, died Nov. 2 in Topeka, Kan. Most recently, he served as professor emeritus in the Kansas State University Department of Agricultural Economics, where he joined the faculty in 1971. He was known for his ability to take complex economic topics and break them down to help others understand policy. To read more on Flinchbaugh’s life and career, click here. There will be a private family burial and then a celebration of Flinchbaugh’s life scheduled sometime after the pandemic is over. The family suggests that memorials be sent to the Kansas State University Foundation for the Flinchbaugh Agricultural Policy Chair (Account O64415), the Flinchbaugh Agricultural Policy Student Scholarship (Account O64410) or given to a charity of your choice in Barry's name. The Kansas State University Foundation is at 1800 Kimball Ave., Suite 200, Manhattan, KS 66502-3373.
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