Eric Steiner will join the Olsson Frank Weeda Terman Matz (OFW) government relations team as a senior policy advisor July 29. Steiner began his career in Washington as a fellow with the Congressional Hunger Center, and has since been a political staffer for the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, an aide to the Senate Agriculture Committee under three Republican chairmen, and he has led in-house government affairs for an array of companies and industry groups, including Kraft Foods, Elanco Animal Health, the National Association of Wheat Growers, and the American Forest and Paper Association.
USDA announced senior appointments and promotions. Cindy Long will become deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services, replacing Stacy Dean, who resigned to lead the Global Food Institute at George Washington University. Long was administrator of the Food and Nutrition Service. Sean Babington was promoted to deputy chief of staff in the Office of the Secretary. He has been with the office since 2021 as senior climate adviser. Eric Deeble has been promoted to deputy undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs. He previously was senior policy adviser for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.
Sean Burke, CoBankUSDA also named new state rural development leaders. Pam Monetti is the new Illinois state director. She worked at Globe Life Insurance Co. for nine years. Andrew Dinsmore will lead the Maryland and Delaware office after 14 years in the office of Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del. CoBank named Sean Burke chief financial officer, leading the cooperative bank’s finance group and reporting directly to President and CEO Tom Halverson. Burke was managing director and co-head of North American banks for London-based Barclays, a $2.0 trillion global bank. He has held senior investment positions at RBC Capital Markets, Citigroup and Lehman Brothers.
Garrett Edmonds joined the Public Lands Council as director of government affairs. He was a legislative correspondent in the office of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Animal Health Institute President and CEO Alexander Mathews will retire at the end of 2024 after working more than 30 years in animal health. The group’s board has appointed a search committee to find a successor.
David Townsend joined The Fertilizer Institute as director of member programs. He worked at the American Farm Bureau Federation the past five years, most recently as assistant director of member engagement. A University of Delaware graduate, Townswnd was National FFA president in 2016-17.
The National Pork Board promoted Chelsey Van Genderen to director of industry programs and outreach. Before joining NPB in 2021, Van Genderen worked at the U.S. Pork Excellence Center for 10 years. Katlyn Cain was promoted to manager of industry relations. She has been with NPB since 2022 as a program manager.
Ashley McManus has resigned as Republican staff director on the House Natural Resources Committee's Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee. She had worked on the committee for Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., since 2019. McManus is now a vice president at Lot Sixteen LLC.
Paul Orme, a rancher and attorney from Arizona, was unanimously selected as president of the Family Farm Alliance, succeeding Patrick O’Toole, who died in February after serving as president for 19 years. Orme is the sixth president in the organization’s history.
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Paige Boogaard joined the office of House Agriculture Committee member Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., as communications director. She employed at TDS Public Affairs and has experience in other GOP congressional offices.
The American Sweet Potato Marketing Institute selected Jeff Smutny as executive director. During three decades in the global marketing industry, he served in various roles at USDA and as global director of marketing and regulatory affairs for the 4,000-grower pecan industry.
Jeff Smutny, American Sweet Potato Marketing InstituteMaureen French left Sen. Tom Carper’s staff on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. She had been with the committee since 2021, recently as a professional staff member. She is now a transportation specialist at the Federal Highway Administration.
Christopher Oakes, president of LynOaken Farms Inc., Medina, N.Y., is the new president of the New York Apple Association. He takes over from Doug Grout, co-owner of Golden Harvest Farms, Valatie, N.Y.. The association represents more than 500 commercial apple growers.
The Bureau of Land Management tapped Joe Stout to serve as California state director. He will oversee 15 million acres of public land and 42 million acres of minerals and energy resources in California and 1.6 million surface acres in northwestern Nevada. Stout will begin August 11.
Kraft Heinz named Todd Kaplan chief marketing officer to lead the packaged foods brand’s $22 billion portfolio. Kaplan has worked for PepsiCo for nearly two decades, lately as chief marketing officer for the Pepsi brand. He led the brand’s 2023 rebrand. The new job begins August 5.
The National Agricultural Aviation Association hired longtime member Amy May as manager of communications and meetings. She brings more than 20 years of experience in communications and organization to the role. May will be working with Lindsay Barber, NAAA’s director of communications and meetings, to assist planning the Ag Aviation Expo and board meetings.
Erin Taylor has left as communications director for House Ag Committee member David Rouzer, R-N.C., to be senior social media manager at the National Federation of Independent Business.
The Carbon Removal Alliance hired Dan Frost as senior communications manager. He comes from Precision Strategies where he worked on affordable health care and immigration reform.
Kevin Strathman, Dairy Farmers of America chief financial officer, has started as board chairman of Harvesters, a regional food bank in northwestern Missouri and northeastern Kansas. He has served on its board for eight years, including as treasurer and president elect.
Gabrielle Mannino was promoted to communications director for Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine. She has been with the office for nearly three years.
Kallee Buchanan, an Australian journalist, was selected as the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s 2024 visiting global agricultural journalist. In her home country, Buchanan presents the Queensland Country Hour, Australia’s longest running radio program, and a daily podcast connecting rural and urban audiences. Buchanan will visit the campus Sept. 9-18.
Andrea Hitt was hired as communications director for Rep. Jim Baird, R-Ind. She was director of communications for Arizona Rep. Debbie Lesko.
The Indiana State Department of Agriculture hired Clark Smith as director of the Indiana Grain Buyers and Warehouse Licensing Agency. An Indiana native, Smith will be responsible for approving license applications and the auditing commercial grain operations. He will also chair the Indiana Grain Indemnity Corp. board of directors.
Clark Smith, Indiana Grain Buyers and Warehouse Licensing Agency. Wisconsin Farmers Union member Joseph Childs was selected for the 2024-2025 World Farmers’ Organization Gymnasium Program, a 30-month experience that will expose participants to agencies such as the UN Decade of Family Farming, World Food Forum and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Lauren Kaldenberg joined the office of Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, as a staff assistant. A recent graduate of Iowa State, Kaldenberg has interned in the office of Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst and clerked for Iowa state Sen. Annette Sweeney.
Stephen Duda, former chief executive officer of Florida's Duda farm operation, died July 12. He was a was a third-generation descendent of company founder Andrew Duda, beginning his career at the company’s Belle Glade farm and being appointed CEO in 1998. He was inducted into the Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame alongside his cousin Edward Duda and brother Joseph.
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