Farm Hands West: Sakata Seed appoints Flores

Sakata Seed America has appointed Eduardo Flores to the role of chief operations officer. Flores most recently led global strategy for Dummen Orange, a Netherlands-based ornamentals company.

Michael Schall has been tapped as the new executive chairman of ePallet’s board of directors. Schall is a former Whole Foods Market executive and currently serves as managing director of FocalPoint.

Campbell Soup Company has named Stewart Lindsay vice president of corporate responsibility and sustainability, effective Dec. 6. Lindsay previously worked at The Nature Conservancy, where he was the managing director of corporate engagement. Before that, he spent 15 years at Bunge Limited.

Phillip Hayes has announced he is leaving IRI Consultants, where he was a senior consultant. He worked on the American Sugar Alliance, National Crop Insurance Services, and Farm Policy Facts accounts at IRI. Hayes has accepted a new role as vice president of marketing for Farmland Partners, a real estate company that invests in farmland across the country. Elizabeth Fusick will be the new primary contact for Hayes accounts at IRI.

Chelsie Keys has been promoted to policy director for the Republican side of the Senate Ag Committee. Keys will help lead the policy development and strategy for Ranking Member John Boozman’s, R-Ark., team. Keys joined the committee in 2015 and remained onboard as senior professional staff member when Boozman assumed the role of ranking member. She has managed the portfolio for livestock, poultry and climate related issues. Before joining the committee, Keys worked at the National Pork Producers Council where she served as director of government affairs.

Caitlin Balagula has been promoted to legislative assistant on the House Ag Committee for the Democratic staff. She will be helping the Nutrition, Oversight, and Department Operations Subcommittee team working on issues related to nutrition and oversight. Balagula will also continue to serve as a staff assistant for the committee.

Hailey Gilbreath has joined the National Sorghum Producers and the United Sorghum Checkoff Program as the new communications manager, and Jessi Lopez has been hired as the new administrative manager. Gilbreath has a bachelor’s degree in agricultural communications from Missouri State University. Before joining the organization, she managed digital marketing and social media efforts at Bedford Camera and Video. Lopez brings 14 years of administrative and financial experience to the role. She replaces Amanda Garcia, who now works as the office manager for Sustainable Crop Insurance Services, a subsidiary of NSP. Haleigh Erramouspe was also recently selected to a joint position as executive director for the New Mexico Sorghum Association and Colorado Sorghum Association. She will fulfill these roles while continuing to work part-time as a communications coordinator for NSP.

AgGateway has announced the individuals elected to its 2022 board of directors. Serving as chair is Doug Farrington with BASF, replacing Adriano Becker with CNH who has moved to past chair. Serving as vice chair is Feroz Sheikh with Syngenta. Elected to serve as treasurer is Karen Thomas with Southern States Cooperative. Other individuals serving on the board include: Scott Charbo, Nutrien Ag Solutions; Jacob Crow, GROWMARK; Bruno Albuquerque Lucio, Topcon; Felipe Santos, John Deere; Fritz Schuster, Lexagri SAS; Jeremy Wilson, EFC Systems; and Brent Kemp, AgGateway.

The American Agri-Women elected new national officers at its 2021 national convention. They include: Heather Hampton+Knodle as the new president; Rose Tyron Vancott as first vice president; Kathy Goodyke as treasurer; Laura Hart as vice president of communications; and Karolyn Zurn, former president, will now transition to the past president role. 

Scott Carter has announced he will retire from USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service after 30 years in the federal workforce. His most recent role was disaster response coordinator and before that he served as the chief of government affairs for FNS.

Longtime civil rights activist, Don Villarejo, passed away on Nov. 19. Villarejo became active in civic affairs in 1955, participating in the student, civil rights and peace movements. He was a founding member of the editorial board of New University Thought and participated in the preparation of protests at the 1968 National Democratic Party Convention in Chicago. He volunteered with the farmworkers movement in 1976 and later co-founded the California Agrarian Action Project and the California Institute for Rural Studies in 1977. Villarejo served as executive director of CIRS from its founding until his retirement in 1999. In April 2020, he was recruited to assist the COVID-19 Farmworker.

For more news, go to www.Agri-Pulse.com.