The American Feed Industry Association’s board of directors elected Bruce Crutcher as its new chairman at the board’s spring meeting recently in Washington. Crutcher is the managing director for Micronutrients USA. His one-year term runs through April 30, 2019. The board also accepted the nomination of Tim Belstra, chairman of Belstra Milling Co., to become chairman-elect. He’ll succeed Crutcher next May. Crutcher took the place of Lee Hall, of Hallway Feeds, who now transitions into the one-year chairmanship of the Institute for Feed Education Research board of trustees.
Campbell Soup is looking for a new CEO. The Camden, N.J.-based company said Denise Morrison, who’s been chief executive and president since 2011, abruptly decided to retire last week. Keith McLoughlin, who joined the Campbell board in 2016, was named CEO on an interim basis. Morrison came to Campbell in 2003 as president-global sales and chief customer officer. She had previously held general management, marketing and sales roles at Kraft, Nabisco, Nestle, Pepsi and Procter & Gamble.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue appointed Michael Clemens and Rickey Bearden to serve four-year terms on the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation board of directors. Clemens has operated his family farm in Wimbledon, North Dakota, for more than 40 years. Bearden is a third-generation farmer with a 9,500-acre family spread near Plains, Texas. He is currently on the board of the Southwest Council of Agribusiness and Plains Cotton Growers. The FCIC board oversees the federal crop insurance program, managed by USDA’s Risk Management Agency.
The White House says President Trump plans to nominate Chris Fall as the director of the Office of Science at the Energy Department. Fall is currently the principal deputy director of the DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy, ARPA-E. Fall most recently served for over six years with the Office of Naval Research.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue named 14 members to serve two-year terms on the Plant Variety Protection Board. Two alternate members were also appointed. Representing academia are John Beuttenmuller and Joshua Greenwood, from Florida; Albert Tsui, Washington, and Katherine White, Detroit. Farm sector reps are Shannon Douglass, from California, and Wendell Shauman (alternate), Illinois. Heidi Nebel, Iowa, will represent the general interest sector. Government reps are Brent Burchett, Kentucky; John Heaton, California; Patrick Kole, Idaho, and James Sutton, Atlanta. Representing the seed industry are: Eloy Corona, Triangle Park, North Carolina; John Duesing, Iowa; Kelly Keithly, Arizona; Stevan Madjarac, Missouri, and Charles Brown (alternate), Wisconsin. The board advises the Agriculture Secretary on matters dealing with intellectual property rights for developers of new varieties of plants.
The Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City recently honored Lowell Mohler, former director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture, and Dr. Ken Odde, who has spent the last 10 years leading the Kansas State University Animal Sciences and Industry Department, with its Jay B. Dillingham Award for Agricultural Leadership and Excellence. “These individuals have had a positive and lasting effect on our community,” said Council Chairman Robert Thompson. “They are strong examples of what being an advocate for agriculture can accomplish.” Mohler served for 26 years as the chief administrator of the Missouri Farm Bureau. During Odde’s tenure as department head at K-State, undergraduate enrollment grew from 793 students in 2007 to 1,226 students in 2017. He retired in January.
Karen Plaut this week became the new Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture at Purdue University. She had been serving as the interim dean. Plaut, who earned a doctoral degree in animal science from Cornell University, has previously served as chair of the Department of Animal Sciences at both Michigan State and the University of Vermont, and lead scientist for the NASA International Space Station Biological Research Project.
Edward R. Hamberger says he’ll retire as president and CEO of the Association of American Railroads early next year. His 20 years of service makes him the longest tenured head of the 84-year-old organization. Earlier in his career, Hamberger served as assistant secretary of governmental affairs at the U.S. Department of Transportation and as general counsel at the National Transportation Policy Study Commission.
Molly Morrissey, formerly deputy press secretary for Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith and for her predecessor, Al Franken, has been named Smith’s press secretary. Michael Dale-Smith, who had been senior adviser for communications to both Smith and Franken, is taking a job in public relations.
The International Dairy Foods Association named Bailey Wood as its new vice president of communications, public relations and marketing. The Syracuse University alum has been serving as VP of communications for the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association since 2014.
Miguel Galdos is returning to U.S. Wheat Associates as director for USW’s South American Region. Galdos begins the new job June 1. He previously worked for USW as marketing specialist and assistant regional director in USW’s office in Santiago, Chile, from 2001 to 2008. Most recently, Galdos worked for Engrain LLC, as vice president for Latin American and the Caribbean.
Alan Andrews says he’s retiring as director of marketing from Cal-Maine Foods effective June 1. Andrews has held the position since 2011. Jackson, Miss.-based Cal-Maine Foods is the largest producer and marketer of shell eggs in the U.S.
John W. Pendleton, who was born on a “two-mule farm” in Tennessee and went on to become one of the world’s leading agronomists, died May 15 at the age of 96. After serving as a Navy pilot in World War II, Pendleton earned a doctorate in agronomy from the University of Illinois. In 1971 he was named chairman of the Agronomy Department at the University of Wisconsin. After a year with USDA in Washington (1979-1980), he moved into international food improvement as a scientist and deputy director at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines and as the managing deputy director of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Nigeria. In retirement, he served on many global consultancies for agricultural projects in developing countries for USAID, FAO and IFAD. In 2011, the University of Illinois College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences presented him with its Award of Merit for his contributions to agricultural research and crop production in the United States, Asia and Africa.
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