The Meat Institute hired Jesse Fulton as director of animal health and welfare. He worked for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and directed the Nebraska Beef Quality Assurance program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for five years. He will oversee the institute’s animal welfare guidelines and be staff liaison to the institute’s Animal Welfare Committee.
Former National Pork Board CEO Bill Even will be the next commissioner of the South Dakota Governor's Office of Economic Development. He will start in early May.
USDA's Farm Production and Conservation mission area added new staff. Kaytlin Bemis is now a policy adviser. She was manager of public policy and regulatory affairs at the National Corn Growers Association and public policy specialist at the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation. Matthew Wininger was hired as special assistant. He was legislative correspondent for Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. Kelli Evans was named senior adviser and Kyle Allen special assistant.
Kenneth Selzer was sworn in as associate administrator of the Risk Management Agency. He has served on the Federal Reserve Board’s Insurance Policy Advisory Council and as a USDA Federal Crop Insurance Corp. board member. He was executive managing director of Aon for 28 years and was previously insurance commissioner for the state of Kansas.
Cotton Council International named
Liz Hershfield, Cotton Council International Liz Hershfield executive director. She has held many industry roles, including senior vice president and head of sustainability for J Crew Group, head of product development, production and sustainability at Walmart eCommerce and chief supply chain officer at Bonobos. Hershfield succeeds Bruce Atherley, who retired at the end of March.
Russell Laird was sworn in as a special assistant in USDA's Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement. He has worked in a variety of Republican political support roles, including most recently supporting advance preparation for Vice President JD Vance and President Trump’s campaign. He is also chief strategist at Inside Track Advisory. Adrienne Garza was sworn in as a senior adviser, also in the Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement.
Jeremy Adamson joined PepsiCo as director of global agriculture policy. He will focus on regenerative farming, resilience and sustainable food systems in the company’s global value chain. During the Biden administration, Adamson was chief of staff for USDA’s Research, Education and Economics mission area and led USDA’s international climate portfolio at the Foreign Agricultural Service. He has worked for Corteva, Nutrien and Certis Biologicals.
Terrain hired Matt Erickson as a senior analyst for the swine, grain and oilseed sectors. He was an agricultural economic and policy advisor for Farm Credit Services of America, AgCountry Farm Credit Services and Frontier Farm Credit. Erickson has been chief economist for the Senate Agriculture Committee. He remains involved in his family’s grain and hog farm near Lafayette, Indiana, and will work remotely.
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Francis Tsiboe joined the North Dakota State University Agricultural Risk Policy Center as a senior research economist and program leader. He was a research agricultural economist at USDA focused on farm support, risk management and international development.
The German Marshall Fund of the United States named Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer president. She has been with the fund for 13 years and has been acting president since September.
Halee Fisher was sworn in as senior adviser in Research, Education and Economics at USDA. She was a legislative assistant on the House Agriculture Committee Republican staff.
Michelle Bekkering was named USDA deputy under secretary of trade and foreign agricultural affairs. During the first Trump administration, she worked at USDA for three years as acting assistant administrator and assistant administrator of the Bureau for Economic Growth, Education and the Environment. Earlier Bekkering worked at the International Republican Institute in governance and global initiatives roles.
Trevor Benson was named special assistant in the Office of Tribal Relations at USDA. He was a field staff member for the National Right To Work Committee.
The International Dairy Foods Association hired Elena Clark as manager of trade and economic policy. She worked for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization as the legislative affairs and economics specialist for North America. Earlier in her career, Clark managed agriculture, trade, energy and environment policy issues in two Capitol Hill offices. She will report to Becky Rasdall Vargas, senior vice president of trade and workforce policy.
Brad Cornelius (Farm Credit of the Virginias photo)Brad Cornelius, CEO of Farm Credit of the Virginias, will retire in the fourth quarter of 2025. He has worked for the Farm Credit system for 33 years, including as the CEO of FCV since 2020. The cooperative has grown to over $2.3 billion in total loan volume during his tenure. It serves more than 12,500 customer-owners. FCV will launch a national search to fill the position.
Shannon Hauf, senior vice president and head of North America, Australia and New Zealand product supply at Bayer Crop Science, joined the National 4-H Council board of trustees. Hauf, a Minnesota 4-H alumnus, said, “I’m exactly where I want to be, at the crossroads of innovation and the farm and 4-H helped me get there."
Emelie Englehart has left the office of House Agriculture Committee member Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark. She worked for Crawford for two years. Englehart will be associate professional staff member on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence assigned to the committee's Cartel Task Force.
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the appointment of state executive directors of the Farm Service Agency and state Rural Development directors:
Alaska: Eric A. Koan, Rural Development
Alabama: Monica Carroll, FSA
Arizona: Sine Kerr, FSA; Lori Urban, Rural Development
Arkansas: David Branscum, Rural Development; Ty Davis, FSA
California: Bryan Anguiano, Rural Development; Connie Conway, FSA
Colorado: Sallie Clark, Rural Development; Jerry Sonnenberg, FSA
Delaware: Richard Wilkins, FSA
Florida: Marcinda Kester, FSA; MaryAnn Pistilli, Florida and U.S. Virgin Islands Rural Development
Georgia: Duncan Johnson, FSA
Illinois: Bill Graff, FSA; Jesus Ortega, Rural Development
Kansas: Gimmie Jo Jansonius, Rural Development; David Schemm, FSA
Kentucky: Travis Burton, Rural Development; David A. Wayne, FSA
Louisiana: Craig McCain, FSA
Massachusetts: Edward Davidian, FSA
Michigan: Joel Johnson, FSA
Minnesota: Kurt Blomgren, FSA
Mississippi: Dane Maxwell, Rural Development; Chris McDonald, FSA
Missouri: Ben Baker, Rural Development
Montana: Mike Foster, FSA
Nebraska: Hilary Maricle, FSA; Neil Moseman, Rural Development
Nevada: Alida Ceballos, Rural Development
New Hampshire and Vermont: Patrick Suprunowicz, Rural Development
New York: Clark Putman, FSA
North Carolina: Ron Garrett, FSA; Robert Hosford, Rural Development
North Dakota: Tom Campbell, Rural Development; Brad Thykeson, FSA
Oregon: Jim Carmack, Rural Development
Pennsylvania: Michael Cabell, Rural Development
South Carolina: Jacob French, Rural Development; W.R. “Cody” Simpson III, FSA
Tennessee: Patrick Jaynes, Rural Development; Mike Mayfield, FSA
Utah: Stan Summers, Rural Development
Vermont: Wendy Wilton, FSA
Washington: Kirk Pearson, Rural Development; Jon Wyss, FSA
West Virginia: John Reisenweber, Rural Development
Wisconsin: Sandy Chalmers, FSA
Wyoming: Thomas (Tyler) Harrison, Rural Development
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