Shelby Scarpa has been added to the D.C. Legislative and Regulatory Services team as senior vice president of government relations. Scarpa previously worked at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services as the assistant commissioner and chief of staff.
Shelby Scarpa, DCLRSJanie Hipp has been tapped as the new lead of the Native Agriculture Financial Services organization. Hipp serves as the general counsel of USDA and was also the CEO of the Native American Agriculture Fund before her most recent appointment.
Ken Hartman Jr. has been selected to sit on the National Corn Growers Association’s Corn Board as the next first vice president, effective Oct. 1. Hartman is a fifth-generation farmer from the Waterloo, Illinois, area. Hartman currently chairs NCGA’s finance committee and previously served as a co-chair of the 2023 Commodity Classic committee. On Oct. 1, Tom Haag of Minnesota will become chairman of NCGA, and the current first vice president, Harold Wolle of Minnesota, will become NCGA’s next president.
Michael Sistak has come back to the American Farm Bureau as the director of advocacy and political management. He previously worked at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget as the director of coalitions and engagement. Before that, he was the director of grassroots program development at AFBF.
Parker Welch has been tapped as the next executive director of the Maryland Farm Bureau. He has been on the MDFB staff since 2014, most recently as the director of organization.
Lillie Brady is now the agriculture and energy policy adviser to Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. Brady comes to the governor’s office from the Cornerstone Government Affairs team, where she was a senior associate. Before that, she worked for Corteva Agriscience and for USDA, during the Trump Administration.
Shelby Young has joined USA Rice as the new manager of government affairs. She will also lead USA Rice’s Political Action Committee. Young most recently worked at McKinley Advisors, a DC-based management and strategy consulting firm. In her career, she has also served as the membership specialist for the National Rural Water Association, where she managed communications, donation solicitations, and events for the organization’s PAC.
Shelby Young, USA RiceWednesday is Taylor McCarty's last day on Capitol Hill, where she has served as majority communications director under House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson, R-Pa. McCarty says she will announce her next move soon, but says she will be working in D.C. at a public affairs and lobbying shop that represents some energy and agriculture clients. Ben Goldey and Kelsey Holt will be taking over communications for the committee's majority staff.
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Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash, has added two new additions to the Congressional Western Caucus. Josie McLaurin is a policy adviser handling the portfolio for agriculture, endangered species, forestry, public lands, and water issues. McLaurin previously worked at USA Rice, where she was the manager of government affairs. Adam Brown has been hired on as the new press assistant. He previously worked in the communications department at the Republican National Committee.
Michael Tyler has been tapped as the communications director for President Joe Biden’s Biden-Harris 2024 reelection campaign, effective the first week of July. The Atlanta native most recently served as the group director for public affairs at SS&K, a political and advertising firm. Before that, Tyler helped found and oversaw messaging and content strategy for LeBron James’ political organization, More Than A Vote, during the 2020 presidential election cycle.
The Council for Producers and Distributors of Agrotechnology (CPDA) has hired Tim Cansler of Cansler Consulting to lead the organization’s 2023 farm bill initiatives. He has lobbied on food and ag issues to Congress in five previous farm bills. His career includes time working at the Department of Agriculture, American Farm Bureau Federation and Kentucky Farm Bureau.
Shalini Avasarala has left Capitol Hill where she was the press secretary for Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif. She has joined Weber Shandwick as the new manager of client experience and media relations.
Jayson Lusk will become vice president and dean of Oklahoma State University's Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, effective in August. He will succeed Tom Coon, who is retiring. Lusk most recently was the head of the agricultural economics department at Purdue University.
Jesse Martin has joined Protect The Harvest, an advocacy group, on the organization’s advisory committee. Bringing over 15 years of experience, Martin previously founded The Growth Group, an agency dedicated to helping nonprofits evolve and sustain growth.
The North American Equipment Dealers Association has elected regional directors. Representing Canada is Wally Butler from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Josh Vines of Bastrop, Louisiana has been selected to direct the deep southern region and Eric Mason of Aurora, Utah, the far west region. Lastly, Kevin Clark of Lincoln, Nebraska, was elected to oversee the Iowa-Nebraska region.
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