Elise Fennig was named president and CEO of the Pet Food Institute. She will succeed Dana Brooks, who held the position since 2018. Most recently, Fennig served as chief of staff and as senior vice president of industry engagement at the National Confectioners Association. Earlier, she held leadership roles at the Consumer Brands Association, American Frozen Food Institute, and The Kraft Heinz Co. Fennig assumes her new role March 16.
Elise Fennig (Pet Food Institute)The Cattlemen’s Beef Board elected new 2026 officers. Cattle producer Cheryl DeVuyst of Oklahoma was named chair. She is a professor of agricultural economics at Oklahoma State University and head of the ag economics department. She also owns DeVuyst Ranch, a cow-calf and stocker operation, with her husband Eric. Terry Quam of Wisconsin was named vice chairman. He operates an Angus seedstock operation, Marda Angus Farms, in Lodi, Wisconsin, that’s been in operation since 1940. He has been active in the Wisconsin Beef Council, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and Farm Bureau. A fifth-generation farmer from Stockton, Missouri, Kalena Bruce is now secretary-treasurer. She is a licensed certified public accountant and managing partner of Integrity Squared, a CPA firm she started more than a decade ago. Bruce is a member of the Missouri Farm Bureau, NCBA, the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association, the Missouri Young Farmer & Rancher Committee and the American Foundation for Agriculture.
Arkansas producer Nathan Reed was elected 2026 National Cotton Council chairman during the group’s annual meeting in San Antonio. A fourth-generation farmer on the family’s Arkansas Delta operation, Reed and his wife, Kristin, run a diversified corn, cotton, milo, and soybean operation with their four children. Reed is a former president of the Agricultural Council of Arkansas and serves on the Lee County Farm Bureau Board of Directors and the Arkansas Agriculture Council Board of Directors. Hank Reichle, a cooperative delegate and president and CEO of Staplcotn, will serve as the group’s vice chairman.
At the National Cotton Council’s annual meeting, Jeff Johnson, a Memphis, Tennessee, merchant, and Frederick Barrier, a Greenwood, Mississippi, cooperative official, were elected as vice presidents. NCC staff officers reelected to their posts include: Gary Adams, president and chief executive officer; Marjory Walker, vice president, operations; Jody Campiche, vice president, economics and policy analysis; John Gibson, vice president, member services; Tas Smith, vice president, producer affairs; Harrison Ashley, vice president, ginner services; Chad Brewer, vice president, technical services; and Robbie Minnich, vice president, Washington operations.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’ scheduler Mary Galey will depart USDA to join The Russell Group as executive affairs director. Galey will be responsible for leadin
Mary Galey (The Russell Group photo)g the firm’s client service and scheduling efforts. Galey has served as director of scheduling for Rollins for the past year. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she began her career in Washington as a scheduler for Rep. David McKinley, R-W.V., before becoming director of operations for Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., where she worked for five years.
Rollins appointed three new members to the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation board of directors, which oversees the federal crop insurance program: Tim Weber is the retired president of Great American Crop Insurance. Based in Ohio, he has 38 years of experience in the crop insurance industry, beginning his career as a field-level loss adjuster and working his way up to leadership roles at the national level. Cara Riekhof is a partner in her family’s diversified row crop farm in Missouri. She is a crop insurance agent serving farmers in Kansas and Missouri for the last 16 years and is a former farm radio broadcaster who has worked with the Missouri Young Farmers and Ranchers. Virginia farmer Brett Wightman has over 15 years of experience as an agricultural producer and crop insurance professional. He raises both dryland and irrigated row crops as well as cattle and has extensive knowledge of crop insurance as a producer, crop insurance agent and as an agricultural risk consultant. He previously served as the president of the Virginia Soybean Association and the Virginia Crop Production Association.
Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., was named chairman of the House Ag Committee’s Subcommittee on Forestry and Horticulture. A member of Congress since 2014, Newhouse has been a leading voice on issues around ag labor, environmental regulation, and foreign land ownership. He is set to retire at the end of the year. The late Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., who died in January, was the previous chairman.
The Controlled Environment Agriculture Alliance announced new board members. Skip Hulett, chief legal officer at NatureSweet, was named chairman. He has led NatureSweet’s growth to become the largest controlled environment agriculture company in the world to achieve B Corp certification. He is a former state district court judge. Hulett succeeds Steve Campione, chief finance office and executive vice president of strategy at Bright Farms, who is concluding his board service. Matthew Meisel, chief development officer at Little Leaf Farms, was named treasurer. Additional newly elected directors include Abby Prior, chief commercial officer at Cox Farms; Aaron Fields, CEO at Campo Caribe; Viraj Puri, co-founder and CEO at Gotham Greens; and Dave Stienes, chairman and CEO at Adept Ag.
Doug Grott is returning to Marion Ag Service as the organization’s first chief operating officer. He was previously director of sales at the company. Grott was an area business manager at Atticus, LLC, and has also held roles at Wilbur-Ellis.
Are you changing jobs, getting promoted or receiving an award? Know someone who is? Email Lydia@Agri-Pulse.com to be featured in next week’s edition of Farm Hands on the Potomac.
