Amanda De Jong was named CEO of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers effective Sept. 3. She succeeds Brian Stockman, who retired. De Jong was head of government affairs and policy engagement at Pivot Bio. She was Iowa state executive director of the Farm Service Agency in the first Trump administration and has held roles with Landus and the Iowa Corn Growers Association. Her family farms in Iowa.
Mary Beth Schultz joined the Wiley law firm’s food and drug practice as a partner. She has more than two decades of government and legal experience as acting general counsel and principal deputy general counsel at USDA, chief counsel to the Senate Agriculture Committee and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Schultz also has worked as a prosecutor with the Department of Justice. 
Cindy Long (Manatt, Phelps & Phillips photo)
Cindy Long, former USDA deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services, joined Manatt, Phelps & Phillips as a national adviser in the firm’s health care group. She will focus on health care issues across food, nutrition and agriculture, according to the firm's release. Long worked for the Food and Nutrition Service for more than 10 years.
Devin Cole was named chief operating officer at Tyson Foods. He joined Tyson in August 2024 and was promoted to president of poultry in February. Tyson said Brady Stewart, former group president of prepared foods, beef and pork and chief supply chain officer, would depart effective immediately.
Gov. Bill Lee named Andy Holt Tennessee agriculture commissioner effective Oct. 1. Charlie Hatcher will retire after nearly seven years. Hatcher was state veterinarian for 10 years before being named commissioner. Now deputy commissioner, Holt was a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives before joining the department.
Autumn Veazey Price will be leaving food wholesaler UNFI in November. She was vice president of government affairs the past three years. She worked for Land O’Lakes earlier.
Jeff Loessin is now director of business development at Corteva Agriscience where he leads global relationships with collaborators and innovators. Based in Indianapolis, he was a business intelligence leader focused on crop protection.
The Smart Electric Power Alliance named Monica Trauzzi chief communications officer. She was senior director of energy and climate public affairs and strategic communications at Invariant and worked at the Nuclear Energy Institute and E&E News.
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Combest, Sell & Associates hired Greyson Castillo as an associate in the firm’s Lubbock, Texas, office. Originally from Las Cruces, New Mexico, he completed an internship with the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives. Jody Zimmerman joined the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association as manager of producer education. She was an economics intern at the Kansas Department of Agriculture.
Missouri Farm
TaylorAnn Washburn (MFBF photo) Bureau hired TaylorAnn Washburn as director of marketing and commodities. She was program director for the University of Missouri Extension’s agricultural business and policy group. She has also worked for the Missouri Department of Agriculture wine and grape board and Brownfield Ag News. A native of Harrison County, Missouri, Washburn holds a master’s degree from Texas Tech University.
Farmers for Sustainable Food promoted Jamie Fisher to managing director. She has been with the organization since 2019 where she supported farmer-led watershed groups in Wisconsin and Minnesota and executed sustainability projects. Fisher will expand leadership and oversight of the organization’s vision and sustainability initiatives. She succeeds Lauren Brey, who is now chief experience officer at the multistate collaboration committed to amplifying the voice of dairy farmers, Voice of Milk.
Politico ag news reporter Jordan Wolman has left the news service to relocate to Boston, where he is a senior reporter at the CommonWealth Beacon.
Sarah Ash Simpson will join the Indiana Soybean Alliance as senior director of public policy and industry affairs Sept. 15. She has 20 years' experience in policy, legislative and agency leadership, including roles with the Indiana State Board of Animal Health and the Indiana State Department of Agriculture. She replaces Steve Howell, who recently was named Indiana state Rural Development director for USDA.
The Iowa Soybean Association elected new leaders. Tom Adam of Harper, a diversified row crop and beef cattle producer, was elected president. He serves on the American Soybean Association board of directors and has been a long-time participant in ISA research activities that advocate for the soybean checkoff and agriculture. Additional farmer leaders appointed to the executive committee include Lee Brooke of Clarinda as president-elect, Sam Showalter of Hampton as treasurer, Aimee Bissell of Bedford as secretary and Jeff Ellis of Donnellson as an at-large member. Brent Swart of Spencer will conclude his tenure as ISA president.
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