Farm Hands West: Wirz to lead San Benito County Farm Bureau

Donald Wirz will become the new president of the San Benito County Farm Bureau, effective Nov. 13. He will succeed outgoing president is Mary Lou Coffelt. Wirz makes wines for Delicate Family Wines, a business where he has worked for the past 5 years.

The California Manufacturers and Technology Association has brought on Robert Spiegel as senior policy director. Spiegel brings 15 years of advocacy and regulatory experience from the California Farm Bureau Federation where he most recently served as policy advocate. Before that, he was a principal consultant for the California Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee, Assembly Committee on Agriculture and the Resources Budget Sub Committee.

Denise Junqueiro has been promoted to vice president of marketing and communications at Mission Produce. She previously served as senior director of marketing and communications. Junqueiro started at Mission in 2016 as a customer marketing manager. Junqueiro has previously worked at the California Olive Committee, California Tree Fruit Agreement, and the California Fig Advisory Board. 

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.

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.

President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Monde Muyangwa as the nominee for the assistant administrator for the Bureau of Africa at the United States 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 previously served as regional director for Southeast Asia. He joined the Council in 2014. Before joining the Council, Sanchez worked at Cargill, serving as a grain marketing advisor and a trade execution supervisor. Caleb Wurth, the assistant regional director in Southeast Asia, has been selected to become the regional director of the office.

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 the state of 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 the state of Georgia, was elected southern region vice president. He attends the University of Georgia and is a criminal justice major. Josiah Cruikshank, from the state of Oregon, was elected western region vice president. He attends Oregon State University, majoring in business administration and mechanical engineering. Mallory White, representing the state of 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. 

The National Chicken Council has installed Mark Kaminsky as the 2021-2022 chairman of the board. This is Kaminsky’s second time serving as NCC chairman, previously serving from 2018-2019. Kaminsky is the chief operating officer at Koch Foods. Other officers include: 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 eleventh 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.

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 1-3-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 1-3-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.

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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