The Agriculture Department announced a slate of new political appointments, including many names familiar to the food and agriculture community: Trey Forsyth, Kelsey Barnes, Bill Beam and Tucker Stewart, among others.
Maggie Linden was named senior adviser for marketing and regulatory programs. She previously worked in government relations for food and ag clients. Bailey Archey was named a policy adviser in the same mission area with a focus on Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service issues. She was previously a legislative assistant to Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith focused on agriculture issues.
Kelsey Barnes, former director of government affairs at the Farm Journal Foundation, was named senior adviser to the secretary for rural development, biofuels, and research, education, and economics. During the first Trump administration she served as chief of staff to the Rural Business-Cooperative Service at USDA.
USDA appointed Bill Beam as Farm Service Agency administrator within Farm Production and Conservation. Owner and operator of Beams Farms in Pennsylvania, he was FSA deputy administrator of farm programs during the first Trump administration.
Former Senate Ag Committee professional staff member Trey Forsyth was named chief of staff for food safety. During the first Trump administration, Forsyth was a policy adviser to Gregg Doud, the Chief Agricultural Negotiator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
Jordan Bonfitto, former director of government affairs at the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, was named chief of staff for marketing and regulatory programs. He is an alumnus of the University of Florida. 
Jordan Bonfitto (National Thoroughbred Racing Association photo)
The Office of Communications staff has been named. Seth Christensen, who was assistant agency director and chief of media, communications and preparedness for the Texas Division of Emergency Management, is director of communications. He has a law degree from South Texas College of Law. Alec Varsamis has returned to USDA as deputy director of communications. He was press secretary during the first Trump administration. Natalie Ihrman was named press secretary. She previously worked for Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.
Audra Weeks, the interim communications staffer for the Agriculture Department, will now serve as director of external and intergovernmental affairs. She served as deputy press secretary at USDA during the first Trump administration.
Ricki Schroeder is chief of staff for research, education and economics. An Oklahoma State University graduate, Schroeder was previously a professional staff member for the House Agriculture Committee.
Alveda King was named senior adviser on faith and community outreach. She is chair of the Rollins-launched American First Policy Institute Center for the American Dream and is co-founder of She Leads Georgia and Speak for Life.
David Matthews was appointed director of state operations for Rural Development. He was previously appointed by President Trump to the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development, which is dedicated to advising USAID on agricultural and food security programs in developing countries. He has also previously served in roles at the Food and Nutrition Service, the Farm Service Agency, and as a representative of the White House.
Tucker Stewart was named deputy assistant secretary for congressional relations. A Kansas native, he was general counsel and senior agriculture policy adviser to Sen. Roger Marshall. R-Kan.
T.W. Shannon was named senior adviser to the secretary for rural prosperity. Previously speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, Shannon has worked in various banking and economic development positions in his home state.
Joe Gilson was named chief of staff for Rural Development in the office of the undersecretary. He is returning to the agency after serving as an RD policy adviser at USDA during the first Trump administration. Gilson most recently worked for the American Farm Bureau Federation as a director of government affairs and previously was a legislative assistant for Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, covering agriculture, energy and environmental issues.
Carlee Tousman was named director of special projects. She was previously deputy communications director for the Senate Judiciary Committee and was director of events at Teneo.
One of the nation’s leading farm policy specialists, Mary Kay Thatcher, has retired from her role as senior manager of federal government and industry relations at Syngenta, a position she has held since 2018. Prior to that, she worked for 31 years at the American Farm Bureau Federation. In previous roles, the Iowa State graduate served as a legislative assistant for agriculture and trade to Sen. Roger Jepsen of Iowa. She also served in the George H.W. Bush administration as director of Congressional and Public Affairs for the Farm Credit Administration.
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The National Corn Growers Association hired Gretchen Kuck as an economist based in Washington, D.C. She joins the team with experience from the Office of Agricultural Policy at the Department of State where she focused on Black Sea, fertilizer, and bulk commodity agricultural market dynamics. Kuck also previously worked at USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service where she focused on providing analysis for the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois and Texas A&M University.
John Stewart (Legistorm photo)John Stewart was promoted to senior adviser of government affairs at Elanco. He’s been with the company for five years, most recently in a state government and public affairs adviser position. He previously worked at the American Feed Industry Association in government affairs and member positions.
House Ag Committee member and Iowa Rep.. Zach Nunn's agriculture legislative assistant, Madi Willis, left Capitol Hill. The Drake University graduate is now director of state and federal relations for Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. Reynolds announced recently she will not seek reelection in 2026.
Mark Sanborn joined the Environmental Protection Agency as a regional administrator in Boston. He served as chief of staff at USDA Rural Development during the first Trump administration and has since held various government relations and energy adviser roles.
The Russell Group hired Alex Smith as a legislative assistant. He previously worked for CropLife America as a government affairs coordinator and PAC manager. A Texas A&M University graduate, Smith also completed an internship with the USA Rice Federation.
Michawn Nastro joined P2 Public Affairs as a vice president. She served as USDA communications director during President Trump’s first administration and later as communications director for Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan.
ZimmComm principals Chuck and Cindy Zimmerman are retiring from business travel at the end of 2025. The couple has snapped nearly 225,000 photos and thousands of interviews during their 20 years of “agriblogging” at an array of industry events and meetings both in the U.S. and dozens of countries abroad. They plan to continue their news release services AgWired and Energy AgWired, along with their podcasting and audio production services. The Zimmermans plan to spend their new free time with their three daughters and four grandchildren.
Liz Friedlander was promoted to managing director at FGS Global. She has been with the organization for nearly three years. Earlier in her career, Friedlander was director of policy communications at the National Corn Growers Association.
Liz Friedlander (FGS Global photo)CropLife America hired Stacy Southard as an executive assistant. She was previously a legal secretary at Baker Botts for 28 years.
Christina Coen was named chief technology officer, chief transformation officer and sustainability lead at UPL Corp. She was previously chief marketing officer at UPL based in London. Earlier in her career, Coen worked for Dow Agrosciences and FMC Corporation.
Rebecca Lambert was promoted to senior vice president of U.S. petcare marketing at Zoetis. She has been with the company for 12 years, most recently as head of U.S. livestock marketing.
Kang Xia was named associate director of Michigan State University AgBioResearch. She has held faculty positions at Kansas State University, University of Georgia and Mississippi State University. Most recently, she was associate director of the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station at Virginia Tech.
Case New Holland named Jim Nickolas as chief financial officer. He joins the company from Martin Marietta, a U.S.-based supplier of construction materials, where he served as CFO and executive vice president. Previously, he worked at Caterpillar for nearly a decade as head of corporate development and CFO of the resources industries segment. Nickolas succeeds Oddone Incisa, who stepped down from the role as CFO.
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