Greg Tyler, USAPEEC The USA Poultry & Egg Export Council has selected Greg Tyler as the council’s president and CEO, effective July 1. He succeeds Jim Sumner, who is retiring after 32 years leading the organization. Tyler has been with USAPEEC for 25 years, starting as director of foreign market development and Asian promotions, then serving as vice president and senior vice president for marketing before being named chief operating officer in July 2020. Sumner will continue to serve USAPEEC as a senior adviser, and he will retain his roles with the International Poultry Council and the World Poultry Foundation. He will also act as the industry’s representative to USDA's Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee and other groups.Paul Sauder has been elected chairman of the board at USAPEEC. Sauder served as first vice chairman for the last two years. He succeeds Chaz Wilson, who had the role the last two years. John Patchoski of Koch Foods was elected to serve as first vice chairman for the 2022-2023 term, and Thomas Isaf of Interra International was selected second vice chairman.
Jon Parr, president of Syngenta Global Crop Protection, will retire on Sept. 30 after 35 years with the company. Jeff Rowe has been tapped to succeed Parr. Rowe currently is president of Syngenta’s global seeds business. Justin Wolf will transition into that role from being the regional director of North American seeds.
The National Pork Producers Council has promoted Maria Zieba to vice president of international affairs. Zieba joined NPPC in January 2015 and most recently served as the assistant vice president of international affairs. Before NPPC, Zieba worked at the National Milk Producers Federation.
Maria Zieba, NPPCSakata Seed America has appointed William (Bill) McCarthy as the new director of research and development. McCarthy will assume responsibility for all of Sakata Seed America’s vegetable research and development activity at the company’s R&D stations in Burlington, Washington; Woodland and Salinas, California; Ft. Myers, Florida; and Culiacan, Mexico. He succeeds Jeff Zischke, who is retiring after 32 years with Sakata in roles as tomato breeder, global product manager and senior director of R&D.Mitch Van Kampen has added president to his title at Curious Plot. Van Kampen will continue to serve as chief strategy officer, a position he has held for the last two years.
Anthony Reed has accepted a role with FGS Global’s government affairs group, effective July 12. Reed has spent the last 14 years with Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., where he was the vice president of federal government relations. He also has experience working at the Environmental Protection Agency and on Capitol Hill.
Jordan Bonfitto has moved to the National Thoroughbred Racing Association as the new director of government affairs. He previously was the director of government affairs for the Global Cold Chain Alliance.
The Global Institute for Food Security at the University of Saskatchewan has hired Nancy Tout as the first chief scientific officer, effective July 18. Tout comes to GIFS from Results Driven Agriculture Research, where she was a research program officer. Before that, she was the interim executive director at AgScape. She also worked for Syngenta Canada for 21 years, most recently as the head of R&D.
Tracy Mader has joined Beck Ag as the company’s new vice president of business development. Most recently, Mader founded Affinity Seed Services, a consultancy firm that translated the needs of growers, ranchers, and the agriculture value chain for public companies, private equity, and agricultural start-ups. He also brings 20 years of experience working for Syngenta.
The Organic Materials Review Institute has appointed Orsi Dezsi as its new executive director and CEO, effective June 27. Previously, Dezsi was director of product certification in the Food Safety Division at NSF International, where she served nearly 20 years in various roles.
Amy McEvoy has accepted the role of marketing communications manager with BASF Ag Solutions. McEvoy has spent the last 20 years working for Rhea and Kaiser, most recently as the head of earned media.
Erin Pressley has been named senior vice president for Education, Training and Events at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. Pressley previously served as vice president of Media and Education at National Association of Convenience Stores.
Katie Reardon has joined the U.S. Soybean Export Council as the new animal and aquaculture manager. Reardon worked at the Ohio Soybean Council and Ohio Soybean Association for the last 10 years, most recently as the global demand and market development manager.
Connor Kippe has joined the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition as the new policy specialist for NSAC’s Food System Integrity Committee, which focuses on key food safety, labeling, and livestock processing issues. He previously worked at Toxic Free NC as a policy advocate. He was also a climate action organizer at the League of Conservation Voters.
Mark Barnett has been installed as the new president of the Livestock Marketing Association. Barnett is from Guthrie, Kentucky, and has owned the Kentucky-Tennessee Livestock Market for over 40 years. In addition to the livestock auction market, Barnett and his wife, Betty, run a cow/calf and row crop operation.
Chris Grams has left the CME Group, where he served as the senior director of corporate communications.
The National Corn Growers Association’s Corn Board has elected Harold Wolle to become the organization's next first vice president, beginning Oct. 1. Wolle grows corn and soybeans in Madelia, Minnesota, with his son, Matt. Wolle currently chairs NCGA’s finance committee. Before that, Wolle served as president of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association and chairman of the Watonwan Farm Service and Central Farm Service Co-op Board.
Former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter has been elected to chair the board of directors of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. He has served on the board since 2018. He succeeds nonprofit development consultant and former CSPI Director of Development Robin Caiola, who has served on the board for 12 years, including six years as vice chair and nearly two years as chair.
CSPI also announced the election of three new board members: Dr. Giridhar Mallya, Jane Schmitz, and David Rousseau. Mallya is a public health physician and health policy expert who serves as senior policy officer for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Schmitz is an advisor to the From Now On Fund, and is an experienced public health instructor and researcher. She was an Emerson National Hunger Fellow at the Congressional Hunger Center, a program officer at USDA's Food and Nutrition Service in the western region and a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Niger. Rousseau serves as the vice president and executive director of health policy media and technology and publisher of Kaiser Health News.
Tom Oswald (Photo: Iowa Soybean Association)Iowa farmer and past president of the Iowa Soybean Association Tom Oswald passed away unexpectedly June 16. Oswald was past president of the Cherokee County Farm Bureau and served as a Cherokee County Soil Commissioner. He was also on the Cherokee Chamber of Commerce Agri-Business Committee. He has served for over 20 years, first on the county level and then as a director on the Iowa Soybean Association board, and was president in 2014-15. He was currently serving on the United Soybean Board's executive committee. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, June 23, at 10:30 a.m. at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Cherokee, Iowa. Public visitation with the family present will be on Wednesday, June 22, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee, Iowa. Online condolences may be left at www.boothbyfuneral.com.
Jeffrey Gain, age 82, of Hardin, Illinois, died on May 26. Gain served as county manager for several county Farm Bureaus and then became director of marketing for the Illinois Farm Bureau. He next became executive director of the American Soybean Association and then CEO of the National Corn Growers Association before retiring to his farm and doing consulting work in Calhoun County, Illinois. A celebration of life will be held at Illinois Riverdock Restaurant in Hardin, Illinois, on July 10, from noon to 3 p.m.
For more news, go to www.agri-pulse.com.
