Items Tagged with 'U.S. Grains Council'

The International Fresh Produce Association announced a reorganization of its food safety and regulatory teams aimed at strengthening the group’s work in produce safety and food safety policy. Wayne Honeycutt, founding president and chief executive officer of the Soil Health Institute, announced that he will retire in early 2026. 

Mark Wilson of the Illinois Corn Marketing Board was elected chairman of the U.S. Grains and BioProducts Council board of directors. Terry Griffin, a professor of agricultural economics at Kansas State University, was appointed to the White House’s Space Weather Advisory Group. Phillip Farmer launched his own business PTK Advisors. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., hired John Watts as counsel covering environmental protection, public lands and natural resources issues.

Chavonda Jacobs-Young departed from USDA where she was chief scientist. Terrain hired Marc Rosenbohm as a senior grain and oilseed analyst. Riley Padgett returned to USDA as chief of staff for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs.

The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture hired Logan Moss as an associate director of public policy. Mike DeCamp retired as CEO and president of CoverCress. 

Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins is making some bold promises that rural America will boom again as the result of President Donald Trump’s policies.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is eying more U.S. ethanol purchases as a way to erode the U.S. trade deficit, appease President Donald Trump, and meet the country's climate goals as U.S. growers watch with interest. 

This is the first of a three-part series on the impact of U.S. agricultural exports on the U.S. exports and the risks and promise for ag trade going forward. U.S. ag trade sustains jobs up and down the supply chain. USDA estimates that every $1 billion in exports supports more than 6,300 jobs throughout the economy.

Former Senate Ag Committee chief economist John Newton is joining Terrain where he will lead a team of economists and analysts. Jamila Thompson was appointed chief of staff and Jon Hurst was promoted to special advisor for agriculture for United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai.

Darryl Blakey joined BASF as manager of government affairs. Emma Scott was appointed director of the food and agriculture clinic at Vermont Law and Graduate School. The Conservation Lands Foundation tapped Chris Hill as CEO. The World Shipping Council appointed Tamekia Flack as director of U.S. government relations. 

Tuesday was John Newton's last day as the chief economist for the Senate Agriculture Committee under ranking member John Boozman of Arkansas. Bob Petersen will retire from Petersen Consulting, the firm he founded in 2004. Erica Venancio, the firm’s senior executive, will assume leadership of the firm.  

After 13 years, Lisa Humphreys’ time at the United Soybean Board came to an “unexpected and abrupt halt,” she wrote in a LinkedIn post. The U.S. Grains Council has added staff and made multiple promotions: Burhan Chaudhry, Juan Diaz, Sam Clemence, Lucas Rudy and Sam Redfern.