Brian Glenn joined the American Farm Bureau Federation as director of government affairs focused on farm bill issues. He worked for CropLife America for six and a half years, recently as senior director of federal government relations.
Roger Cryan is no longer with AFBF. He was chief economist the past three and a half years.
The National Grain and Feed Association hired Allison Rivera as vice president of government and industry affairs. She worked for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association for nine years as executive director of government affairs. She also worked on Capitol hill for Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C., and Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif. Rivera will begin her new role June 30.
The Senate confirmed Stephen Vaden as deputy agriculture secretary Tuesday in a party-line vote. He is returning to USDA after serving as USDA’s general counsel during the first Trump administration. Since then, he was a judge on the Court of International Trade. During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Agriculture Committee, Vaden said USDA would advocate for removing trade barriers to farm exports through the administration’s broader tariff negotiations.
Lowell Randel will lead the new agricultural policy advocacy program in the Texas Tech University Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources. Housed in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Randel will work on creating the Institute for Agricultural and Natural Resource Policy Excellence and developing a master’s degree in agricultural and resource policy. He recently was president of The Randel Group, his own government relations firm. He’s completed work for the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, the Global Cold Chain Alliance and the American Society of Animal Science. Randel was director of legislative and intergovernmental affairs for the USDA research, education and economics mission area during the George W. Bush administration.
The Senate has confirmed David Fotouhi to serve as deputy administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. An environmental attorney, Fotouhi was acting general counsel and principal deputy general counsel during President Donald Trump’s first term. He was recently a partner at Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher LLP.
Mykenzie Darg is the new manager of pork industry relations at the National Pork Producers Council. During a leadership development rotation, she will complete rotations at NPPC’s headquarters and Washington policy offices, the National Pork Board and a state pork association. Darg has interned at the Iowa Farm Bureau and the Iowa Pork Industry Center.
Sarah Swig left the office of Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., after four years as a policy adviser. She was a policy associate for Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., during her time as speaker of the House.
The A
Victoria Broehm (left) and Leah Wilkinson (right) of the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA photo). merican Feed Industry Association is undergoing a realignment to create three departments for policy, member experience and operations, and to strengthen the Institute for Feed Education and Research’s ability to advance animal food industry research and education. In the restructuring, Victoria Broehm and Leah Wilkinson were promoted. Broehm is now vice president of member experience and will lead the member experience department. She has been with the organization since 2017. Wilkinson will lead the policy department as chief policy officer. She has worked since 2010 at AFIA, which represents 650 feed and pet food industry members.
Ben Nuelle joined the Missouri Pork Association as director of producer services. He worked for the Iowa Pork Producers Association as director of public policy. He worked for Agri-Pulse as an associate editor and on Capitol Hill as agriculture special assistant for Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.
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BASF hired Claire Dailey as a regional strategic messaging and content lead. She previously worked for Bader Rutter, Curious Plot and broadhead. She is coming to BASF full time after working with them as a client in previous agency roles.
Farm Foundation hired Karl Binns Jr. as director of external affairs. He was a conservation program leader at Pheasants Forever and a senior consultant at the Center for Food Integrity.
Jayne Street was promoted to director at BarkleyOKRP. She has been with the company for six years, recently as account supervisor for textile and agriculture clients on public relations. Street earlier worked for Osborn Barr and the Illinois Soybean Association.
Stratovation Group hired Ashley Tate as an account coordinator. She has completed internships with the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association, Beck’s Hybrids and the Ohio Farm Bureau.
Steve Leer joined Elanco as content creator and communications consultant. He was director of development and communications coordinator at Good News Ministries and communications consultant and senior writer at the Purdue University Department of Agricultural Communication.
Chelsea Blink returned to the office of Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Ill., as legislative director. She was director of farm animal legislation at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Blink earlier was a legislative assistant for Underwood and senior adviser to Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis.
CropLife America hired Jake Dumas as an executive office specialist. He completed internships with the National Association of Clean Water Agencies and CropLife America.
Alex Bell (Nofence photo)Alex Bell was promoted to U.S. managing director at Nofence, the world’s first commercially available virtual fencing company. Bell will lead domestic expansion in 47 states. He has been acting vice president of sales since early 2025. Before joining Nofence, Bell worked at Westgass Hydrogen and Removr.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce hired Maggie Sklar as senior director of public policy and advocacy. She was senior complex financial institutions policy specialist at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Peter Hannam, a Canadian farmer, entrepreneur and industry leader, died in hospice. He was 85. Hannam was president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture from 1977 to 1979. He established First Line Seeds with 12 other independent growers in 1982 and led it as president for 20 years. He was one of the first Canadian farmers to try Roundup herbicide in the 1970s. A service will be held for Hannam on June 23 in Guelph, Ontario.
Margaret “Maggie” Ernst, long-time editor of the National Chicken Council’s widely read weekly Washington Report newsletter, died May 31. She was 68. She retired in 2020 as senior director of meetings and member services after 34 years with NCC and lived in Stamford, Connecticut. The family suggests donations in her memory to the Alzheimer's Association.
Correction: Jordyn Landberg joined the Farm Foundation as director of marketing and communications. Last week's Farm Hands had the wrong organization.
