Jon Doggett took over as interim CEO of the National Corn Growers Association last month when Chris Novak resigned to take the top job at CropLife America. Last week, NCGA officially named Doggett as the fifth CEO in the organization’s 61-year history.The veteran lobbyist has been leading the Corn Growers’ D.C. office since 2002 and had been serving as the organization’s executive vice president since 2014 … One of Doggett’s first jobs as new CEO was to name a new vice president of communications. He’s Neil Caskey, who’s been working at Osborn & Barr since 2006. Before that he spent four years with the American Soybean Association as director of industry and public relations… NCGA has also promoted Nathan Fields to the position of vice president of market development. Fields had been director of biotechnology and crop inputs.
Arthur Elkins Jr., the inspector general for the Environmental Protection Agency, is retiring from federal service as of Oct. 12. Elkins has been IG for both the EPA and the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board since June 25, 2010. EPA says Elkins has accepted a new position outside of the federal government, and that his new employer is expected to announce details soon. Before entering federal service, Elkins worked as a prosecutor and public defender in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Charles Sheehan, currently the deputy IG, will serve as the acting inspector general following Elkins’ departure. The EPA inspector general is appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
The Society of American Foresters has a new CEO. He’s Terry Baker, who most recently served as the deputy forest supervisor on the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland in Fort Collins, Colo. Baker, who holds a master’s degree in forestry from Yale, is the first African-American to lead SAF in the organization’s 118-year history.
DowDuPont has named the senior leaders of the independent companies that will be created following the separation of its Agriculture (Corteva Agriscience) and Specialty Products (DuPont) Divisions, which is expected to occur by June 1, 2019. In addition, the company announced that Ed Breen, chief executive officer of DowDuPont, will become executive chairman of DuPont following the separation. The senior leaders of Corteva Agriscience include: Jim Collins Jr., currently chief operating officer of the Agriculture Division, who will be chief executive officer; Greg Friedman, currently head of finance for the Agriculture Division and vice president, DuPont Investor Relations, who will be executive vice president, chief financial officer; and Cornel Fuerer, currently head of legal for the Agriculture Division, will be senior vice president, general counsel. The senior leaders of DuPont include: Marc Doyle, currently chief operating officer of the Specialty Products Division, who will be chief executive officer; Jeanmarie Desmond, now the head of finance for the Specialty Products Division and co-controller of DowDuPont, who will be executive vice president, chief financial officer; and Erik Hoover, currently head of legal for the Specialty Products Division, chief compliance officer for DuPont, and assistant secretary for DowDuPont, who will be senior vice president, general counsel.
After less than two years on the job, Tyson Foods CEO Tom Hayes is stepping down. While the company cited “personal reasons,” the announcement comes less than two months after Tyson stunned the market in July by downgrading its earnings outlook by more than a tenth. The company blamed the Trump administration’s recently-imposed tariffs and a glut of beef and pork in the domestic market for the move. Hayes will be replaced by Noel White, who was formerly group president of Tyson’s beef, pork and international division, beginning Sept. 30.
McGuireWoods Consulting has hired Edward Hill, a legislative assistant to Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., as its vice president of federal government affairs, focusing on agriculture and trade issues. Hill, who holds a law degree from Howard University, had worked for Butterfield since 2015.
The North American Meat Institute is adding Clarissa Moreaux to its regulatory and scientific affairs staff as director of regulatory affairs. Most recently, Moreaux served as quality systems manager at Dine Brands Global Inc. in Glendale, Calif. She also previously worked as an enforcement officer for USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service in Diamond Bar, Calif.
Dewitt Ashby, the director of trade shows for the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, tells Agri-Pulse he’s retiring at the end of September after 35 years with the association. Ashby, who joined NASDA in 1983 to work on the association’s first trade show in Atlanta. has worked on all 34 trade show events co-sponsored by NASDA and USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service.
The Livestock Marketing Association has a new marketing and communications manager. She’s Sam (short for Samantha) Capoun, a former account manager for a livestock sale marketing firm and ag communications and journalism grad from Kansas State.
The American Feed Industry Association is honoring Kirk Bowman as its 2018 Liquid Feed Hall of Fame inductee. A 33-year veteran of the industry, Bowman currently serves as director of operations for PerforMix Nutrition Systems. The induction took place at AFIA’s recent Liquid Feed Symposium in San Diego.
Archer Daniels Midland appointed Clint Piper as president of its Golden Peanut and Tree Nuts business. Piper has been with ADM since 2007, holding a number of leadership roles, including commercial management of the firm’s site in Kershaw, S.C. He most recently served as ADM’s general manager, North American Cotton and Canola Risk Management. Golden Peanut, based in Alpharetta, Ga., operates 12 processing plants in the U.S., one in Argentina, and three in South Africa.
Satyaki Lodh was named chief information officer at Dallas-based Borden, a leading U.S. dairy processer and distributor. Lodh joins Borden from snack-maker Snyder’s-Lance Inc., where he served as vice president of enterprise applications.
Two new chairmen have been selected for the Next Generation for Scientists for Biodiesel program. They are Shyam Paudel, a chemical engineering Ph.D candidate at Missouri University of Science and Technology, and William Gray, a chemical engineering undergrad at Rowan University in Glassboro, N.J. The National Biodiesel Board program for college science students is intended to foster professional relationships between budding and established scientists and increase collaboration with academia and the biodiesel industry. Paudel and Gray join one other sitting co-chair of the organization – Jennifer Greenstein, who is studying plant and microbial biology at North Carolina University. A fourth co-chair, James Brizendine, recently graduated from Missouri University of Science and Technology with a degree in environmental engineering.
Ian Jefferies, the top Washington lobbyist for the Association of American Railroads, will be AAR’s next president and CEO starting Jan. 1. Until then, Jefferies, now the group’s senior vice president of government affairs, will be coordinating with the current CEO, Edward Hamberger, to ensure a smooth transition. Before joining the AAR in 2013, Jefferies worked for more than a decade in government, including as a senior policy advisor to the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.
CORRECTION: In the Sept. 12 newsletter, we incorrectly reported that the Grocery Manufacturers Association had hired Mari Stull as its director of international regulatory policy. The item was written based on a dated news release. Stull worked at GMA in the early 2000s.
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