Chuck Magro has been tapped to serve as the new CEO at Corteva. Magro most recently served as president and CEO of Nutrien.Prior to that, for four years he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Agrium, which merged with PotashCorp to create Nutrien. Magro succeeds Jim Collins, who plans to retire at the end of the year.
Chuck Magro
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has selected Hilary Harp Falk as the organization’s next CEO and president. Falk succeeds William Baker, who began working for CBF as an intern in 1976 and has been president and CEO of the organization since 1981. Falk comes to CBF from the National Wildlife Federation, where she was the chief program officer.
President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Monde Muyangwa to be assistant administrator for the Bureau of Africa at the U.S. Agency for International Development. Muyangwa currently serves as the director of the Africa Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a position that she has held since 2014.
The U.S. Grains Council has tapped Manuel Sanchez to serve as director of the USGC’s office in Beijing, effective Nov. 1 He succeeds Bryan Lohmar, who is departing later in November to enter academia. Sanchez, who joined the council in 2014, previously served as regional director for Southeast Asia. Before joining USGC, Sanchez worked at Cargill, serving as a grain marketing adviser and a trade execution supervisor. Caleb Wurth, the assistant regional director in Southeast Asia, has been selected to become regional director.
Hormel Foods Corporation has announced the retirement of Jim Sheehan, executive vice president and chief financial officer, after 43 years with the company. Jacinth Smiley, group vice president of corporate strategy, has been named Sheehan’s successor.
Hilary Harp Falk
The National FFA Organization has announced the six students elected to serve on the 2021-22 national officer team. The six officers were selected from 37 candidates competing for the honor. Cole Baerlocher, representing the state of Washington, was elected national president. He attends Oregon State University and is an agricultural education major. Jackson Sylvester, hailing from Delaware, was elected national secretary. He attends the University of Delaware as an agriculture major. Cortney Zimmerman, representing the state of Wisconsin, was elected central region vice president. She attends South Dakota State University, majoring in agricultural communications. Erik Robinson Jr., from Georgia, was elected southern region vice president. He attends the University of Georgia and is a criminal justice major. Josiah Cruikshank, from Oregon, was elected western region vice president. He attends Oregon State University, majoring in business administration and mechanical engineering. Mallory White, representing Kentucky, was elected eastern region vice president. She attends Murray State University in Kentucky and majors in agronomy.
Brian Kuehl has been selected to serve as the executive director of the newly created Agriculture Trade Education Council. The ATEC was created to be used as a resource for education on the value of agricultural trade policies, practices, and structures. Kuehl works for KCoe Isom as the director of government and public affairs. ATEC also announced its board of directors: Michael Anderson, Corn Refiners Association; Melissa Kessler, U.S. Grains Council; Lance Jungmeyer, Fresh Produce Association of America; Becky Rasdall, International Dairy Foods Association; Derek Sandison, director of the Washington State Department of Agriculture, and Michael Schumpp, North American Meat Institute.
Jake Wilkins has taken a new job with ROKK Solutions, a public affairs firm, as account director. Wilkins joins the firm after working on Capitol Hill in Sen. Kevin Cramer’s, R-N.D., office as his communications director. Wilkins has previously held roles with the North Dakota Republican Party, USDA, and the Republican National Committee.
Jacob Chisholm is settling into his role in Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s, D-Minn., office as her new regional outreach director, working on the state’s agriculture policy portfolio. Before joining Klobuchar’s team, Chisholm worked on the House Agriculture Committee as a policy analyst and subcommittee staff director for the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management.
Zach Jacobs has left Rep. Tom Emmer’s, R-Minn., office where he handled the agriculture portfolio and has accepted a new position with Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., his hometown representative. Jacobs will be Cline’s senior adviser working on the agriculture, rural development, animal welfare, environment, natural resources, interior, transportation, immigration, energy and the Appropriations Commerce, Justice, and Science Subcommittee portfolio.
The National Chicken Council has installed Mark Kaminsky, chief operating officer at Koch Foods, as the 2021-2022 chairman of the board. Kaminsky previously served as NCC chairman in 2018-2019. Kevin Garland, CEO of Mountaire Farms, will serve as vice chairman; Perdue Farms CEO Randy Day, will serve as secretary-treasurer; and Mike Brown was elected to an 11th term as president of NCC.
Patrick Atagi has been named the new president and CEO of the National Industrial Hemp Council. Atagi currently serves on the Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee (ATAC) on Cotton, Tobacco, Hemp and Peanuts at USDA. Atagi previously served as the vice president of advocacy and external affairs at the National Wooden Pallet and Container Association.
Farha Aslam has been appointed to serve on the Green Plains board of directors, filling the vacancy created by the retirement of Gene Edwards. Aslam is currently managing partner of Crescent House Capital, an advisory practice she founded that develops operating and investment strategies for companies, investors, and service providers across the global food and agricultural value chain.
USDA has announced the appointment of members to serve on the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics (NAREEE) Advisory Board. Each member will serve a 1- to 3-year term: Dana Allen-Tully, Gar-Lin Dairy; Edmund Buckner, Alcorn State University; Lisabeth ‘Liz’ Hobart, Growmark; V.M. ‘Bala’ Balasubramaniam, Ohio State University; Mario Ferruzzi, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; Kenrett Jefferson-Moore, North Carolina A&T State University; Mark Lawrence, Mississippi State University; Michael Oltrogge, Nebraska Indian Community College; Ariel Ortiz-Bobea, Cornell University; Donnell Brown, National Grape Research Alliance; Richard De Los Santos, Texas Department of Agriculture; Marguerite Green, SPROUT; Jane Kolodinsky, University of Vermont; Tambra Raye Stevenson, WANDA: Women Advancing Nutrition Dietetics and Agriculture.
Committee/subcommittee members are listed below. Each member will serve a 1- to 3-year term:
Citrus Disease Subcommittee: Christopher Boisseranc, Southwest Ag Consulting; Thomas Kirschner, Cooperative Producers Inc., Ranch One Cooperative, Cooperative Three and Gulf Harvesting; Wayne Simmons, LaBelle Fruit Company.
National Genetic Resources Advisory Council: Paul Gepts, University of California, Davis; James McFerson, Washington State University (re-appointed); Dr. Terrence Tiersch, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center; Sarada Krishnan, Denver Botanic Gardens.
Specialty Crop Committee: Gregory Goins, North Carolina A&T State University; Carlos Iglesias, North Carolina State University; Nikki Lynn Rothwell, Northwest Michigan Horticulture Research Center, Michigan State University; Shawn Peebles, Shawn Peebles Organic Farm; Jim Tuinier, Post Gardens of Battle Creek Michigan.
Noel Philip Tugwell, “Tug” to his friends, died on Oct. 20 in Fayetteville, Ark. He was 88. He served the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station and the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas as an entomology researcher and teacher for 36 years. He was known for his hardworking attitude, kindness, generosity, and being a thinker.
The Director of the USDA Agricultural Research Service Western Wheat and Pulse Quality Laboratory in Pullman, Wash., for 32 years, Craig Morris, passed away on Oct. 25 at his home in Pullman. He was 64. Morris was widely recognized for his ability to improve the quality of wheat in the Pacific Northwest.
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