The American Coalition for Ethanol elected members to its board of directors during the organization’s annual business meeting. Board members include Rick Schwarck of Absolute Energy, Wayne Garrett of Chief Ethanol Fuels, Troy Knecht of Redfield Energy, Scott McPheeters of KAAPA Ethanol, Dave Sovereign of Golden Grain Energy, Chris Studer of East River Electric Cooperative and Zac Griess of Bosselman Enterprises. ACE also welcomed two new members to the board: Chad Miller of Al-Corn Clean Fuel and Seth Harder of Husker AG.
Matt Herman has been named national business development lead for Agri-Pulse. He previously was publisher of DTN/Progressive Farmer and associate publisher of Top Producer at Farm Journal Media. He has been actively involved in numerous industry associations and has held board positions with the National Agri-Marketing Association, Agriculture Media Council, Agriculture Publishers Association, Progressive Agriculture Foundation and the National Ag Day Planning Committee.
Elissa McLerran Gilliam has left the American Frozen Foods Institute after nearly five years with the organization. She served as senior director of public policy. Gilliam will join the National Sorghum Producers, based in Lubbock, Texas.
Eric Ellis (IFT photo)The Institute of Food Technologists hired Eric Ellis as chief financial officer. He worked for the National Restaurant Association in a variety of roles over the past 10 years, including most recently as chief financial officer. He serves as a member of the Association of Finance Professionals board of directors. Ellis replaces Mark Barenie, who retired after more than 30 years with IFT. Barenie was recently recognized with IFT’s Distinguished Service Award.
Wendell Calhoun was named senior communications manager for Syngenta North America Crop Protection. He has been with the company for 30 years, previously holding roles in public affairs, agricultural sales, corporate communications and marketing communications. He will join Syngenta’s communications team and be responsible for working closely with the company’s crop protection and corporate communications team on media relations and issues management efforts. He has earned multiple National Agri-Marketing Association awards.
Brandon Hunnicutt of Giltner, Nebraska, has been reelected chairman of the Nebraska Corn Board along with Andy Groskopf of Scottsbluff as vice chairman and Ted Schrock of Elm Creek as secretary-treasurer. Jay Reiners remains past chairman. Lisa Lunz of Wakefield was appointed by Gov. Jim Pillen as a member of the board.
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition named Duncan Orlander as a policy specialist in its Washington office. He has been on the staff of the Congressional Research Service, specializing in food and agriculture issues. Orlander has done research on federal farm programs, regional food systems and consolidation in grain and beef processing at the Harvard School of Public Health and Weill Cornell Medicine.
Ashley Viglione (RFA photo)The Renewable Fuels Association hired former intern Ashley Viglione as a government affairs associate based in the Washington office. She will support RFA’s advocacy and policy efforts. Viglione is a recent graduate of Denison University where she studied communications, environmental studies and sustainable design before teaching English in Spain. She completed two summer internships with RFA.
Vive Crop Protection hired Dor Kestecher as senior portfolio manager within the product management department. Most recently, Kestecher was vice president of business development for ag biologicals company Lavie Bio. Kestecher also previously farmed and worked at Syngenta.
Jonathan Schneider joined Meristem Crop Performance as a sales representative serving southern Illinois. He previously held roles with Monsanto, Bayer and DEKALB/Asgrow in various parts of the Midwest. He lives in Venedy, Illinois.
The Eurasia Group named David Meale as its China practice head. He worked for the State Department for three decades, recently as a senior foreign service officer assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing as the deputy chief of mission.
Tammi Arender will step away from anchoring full-time at RFD-TV to launch her own production company. She will be focused on helping those in agriculture get their stories told by mainstream media. Arender is also scheduling speaking engagements and continuing to contribute stories to RFD-TV.
Megan Sandy joined CropLife America as a communications coordinator. She is a recent graduate of North Carolina State University.
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Matthew Vann was named associate dean and director of University of Illinois Extension beginning Sept. 22. He currently serves as interim associate director and state program leader for Agriculture and Natural Resources and Community and Rural Development at North Carolina State University. Since joining the university in 2015, he has also served as an associate professor and Extension specialist in the department of crop and soil sciences. Vann got his bachelor’s from the University of Florida and earned both his master’s and doctorate in crop science from North Carolina State. He succeeds Durriyyah Kemp, who will continue in her leadership role as associate director for Illinois Extension’s Region 1.
Matthew Vann (University of Illinois ACES photo)
California ag industry leader Jonathan Field died Aug. 5 surrounded by family. He was 77. Field held a number of roles supporting California agriculture, including manager of the California Tree Fruit Agreement for over a decade, leader of the Walnut Bargaining Association and compliance officer for the California and Arizona Leafy Greens Marketing Agreements and for the California Cantaloupe Advisory Board. The family will provide information about a celebration of life at a later date.
Longtime soy policy advocate and Delaware state Farm Service Agency executive director Richard Wilkins died Aug. 19. He was 66. He served in numerous leadership roles during nearly a decade on the American Soybean Association board of directors, including as president in 2016. Wilkins was also a member of the Mid-Atlantic Soybean Association and served his state association as president before taking on the role of executive director. He was appointed Delaware state executive director for the Farm Service Agency in May. Services will be held Thursday at Calvary Church in Milford, Delaware.
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