Western Growers announced the eighth class of leadership program participants who will be embedded in networking and agricultural leadership development events over the next two years. Those selected include Carson Britz, senior manager at Nutrien Ag Solutions; Kristen Camarena, vice president of farming at Wonderful Orchards; Charles Ferini, harvest manager at Betteravia Farms; James Larson, general manager at Owyhee Produce; Marisol Moreno, controller at Allied Potato; Patrick Pinkard, farm operations manager at Terranova Ranch; Geoffrey Ratto, CEO at Ratto Bros.; and Freddy Rodriguez, chief operating officer at Legacy Cooling.
Michael Harris joined the staff of Senate Ag Committee member Adam Schiff, D-Calif., as a policy adviser. Harris worked in legislative affairs for the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy and Fish and Wildlife Service. He also previously worked in several offices on Capitol Hill and on the House Appropriations Committee staff.
Brian HorganCal Poly named Brian Horgan as dean of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences effective July 1. He currently is a professor and associate dean for faculty affairs and development in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University. He also previously worked in the Department of Horticultural Science at the University of Minnesota.
California Gov. Gavin Newson appointed Sloane Viola chief deputy director of the California Conservation Corps. Viola previously worked for the California Natural Resources Agency and the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation.
Dylan Beal joined UC ANR as the UC Integrated Pest Management entomology adviser for Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties. Based in the Monterey County UC Cooperative Extension office in Salinas, he will focus on developing sustainable IPM programs.
Christopher Purdy, deputy administrator of the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service Specialty Crops Program, is acting administrator of the USDA National Organic Program.
The National Association of Water Companies hired Ted Stiger as senior director of public affairs. He was chief external affairs and policy officer for the Rural Community Assistance Partnership and previously worked at the National Association of Development Organizations.
The International Fresh Produce Association promoted Colleen Fagundus to director of floral. She has been with the organization nearly 10 years in sales and membership positions. Prior to joining IFPA, Fagundus worked at Wegmans Food Markets.
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The Farm Foundation named Sunghun Lim as a 2025 agricultural economics trade and sustainability fellow. Lim is assistant professor of international agribusiness and director of the LSU Global Value Chains Program in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness at Louisiana State University.
Exacto hired Malin Westfall as chief commercial officer. He was previously sales director at The Mosaic Company and previously worked for ADAMA US, BASF and Bayer Crop Science.
Courtney Knupp joined USDA as a senior adviser to the deputy secretary. She is returning after a stint in the first Trump administration where she was chief of staff to the assistant secretary for administration and a senior policy adviser at the Foreign Agricultural Service. She recently was vice president of international market development at the National Pork Board. She has worked at the U.S. Soybean Export Council, National Pork Producers Council, Elanco and BASF.
Danielle CumminsThe American Seed Trade Association hired Danielle Cummins as director of member engagement. She was an account executive at Aimpoint Research and worked for Farm Credit East and Dairy Farmers of America.
Joe Byrnes joined the office of Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, as policy adviser. He was previously legislative liaison at the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.
Conisha Hackett Brumfield joined the Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Policy Research Center as a policy analyst. She previously worked at USDA as a senior adviser for equity and most recently as chief of staff in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights.
The American Soybean Association promoted Alexa Combelic to executive director of government affairs to lead the organization’s D.C.-based policy office. Combelic has been with the organization since 2020 overseeing biofuels, transportation and infrastructure issues. Prior to joining ASA, she worked on Capitol Hill focused largely on agriculture.
Stetson Bryson rejoined the staff of Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, as legislative director. He had been with the National Pork Producers Council since August and previously was a legislative assistant to Jackson. He will cover appropriations, national security and international affairs.
The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy elected Dennis Rodenbaugh board chair. He has been president and CEO at Dairy Farmers of America since June 2022. Rodenbaugh succeeds Leprino’s Mike Durkin, who was chair since 2023. Other officers are Brad Anderson of California Dairies as vice chair, Sheryl Meshke of Associated Milk Producers as treasurer, Ron Dunford of Schreiber Foods as secretary, and Heather Anfang of Land O’Lakes and Joe Diglio of Michigan Milk Producers as at-large members.
Farm Progress promoted Matt Coniglio to vice president of sales. A previous president of the National Agri-Marketing Association, Coniglio was senior director of strategic accounts at the company. Beth Wagner was hired as vice president of business development. She previously worked at Informa Markets, where she focused on aviation, agriculture and healthcare.
Emily Lyons joined ADM as senior counsel of food safety and quality regulatory. She was a partner at Husch Blackwell and previously worked at the International Dairy Foods Association.
R-CALF USA elected Dave Hyde president and Eric Gropper vice president. Hyde and his wife have a cow-calf operation in eastern Ohio. Gropper has a cow-calf operation in Long Valley, South Dakota. New directors are Ron Volk, Sentinel Butte, North Dakota, and Thad Montgomery, Wirtz, Virginia.
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