Longtime farm, food and environmental policy adviser Ferd Hoefner retired at the end of the year. Prior to launching an independent consulting business in 2021, Hoefner was founding policy director for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, where he worked for 33 years. He was involved in policy advocacy for nine farm bills. “I have decided now is the time to take my leave, hoping for many happy returns from SARE, VAPG, WRP, CSP, CCRP, LAMP, FOTO, REAP, WFRP, NOCCSP, OREI, F2S, BFR and SDFR loans, and all the rest of the alphabet soup I played a part in creating and sustaining,” Hoefner said in a farewell note.
Brad Weddleman is the new chief economist on the Senate Agriculture Committee majority staff. He spent seven years as chief economist for the agriculture and food lobbying firm Combest, Sell & Associates. Weddleman replaces John Newton who left the committee in September to lead a team of economists and analysts at Terrain.
The Farm Credit Administration hired Ben Mosley as director of the Office of Congressional and Public Affairs. He will serve as FCA’s principal point of contact for Congress, the media and other government agencies and the public. Mosley has worked in public policy for nearly two decades, recently as principal at the bipartisan government affairs and strategic consulting firm, Majority Group, and as vice president of government affairs at the USA Rice Federation.
Callie Eideberg is joining the Vogel Group as a principal. She recently was a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee Democratic staff leading the environmental, conservation and climate portfolio, including advocating for then-Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow’s interests on the Inflation Reduction Act and the Growing Climate Solutions Act.
The committee is welcoming four new members to the panel in the 119th Congress, including Democrat Adam Schiff of California who will be the committee's first member from the No. 1 state in farm production since the 1980s. Republicans named two new members, Jerry Moran of Kansas and Jim Justice of West Virginia. Read more about the Senate Ag Committee membership for the 119th Congress.
Ben Mosley, Farm Credit AdministrationEmily Marthaler joined Growth Energy as director of global policy. She was a senior trade adviser at USDA for nearly a decade leading the biofuels and bioeconomy portfolio area. Marthaler also completed stints at the Midwestern Governors Association and the National Association of Attorneys General.
The American Agricultural Law Association named Liz Icenogle executive director. She previously worked at Braden Heidner Lowe & Associates as an association executive alongside AALA’s former leader, Brad Parker, who stepped down recently.
The American Soybean Association elected new officers, including Kentucky farmer Caleb Ragland as 2025 president. Immediate past president Josh Gackle of North Dakota moves to the role of ASA chairman. Former chairman Daryl Cates of Illinois rotates off the nine-member executive committee. Read about all the new ASA board members.
USDA selected 36 members to serve on a group to focus on easier access to voluntary environmental credit markets for producers. The Growing Climate Solutions Act Advisory Council will provide advice on methods to quantify and verify reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by reducing barriers to market entry and associated transaction costs. It will submit an initial assessment of the program to Congress and consult USDA on periodic assessments. Iowa farmer and owner of Continuum Ag Mitchell Hora and senior director of sustainability at Blue Diamond Growers Dan Sonke, among others, were named to the committee.
Christy Seyfert, executive director of government affairs for the American Soybean Association, was selected as president and CEO of the Farm Credit Council to succeed Todd Van Hoose, who is retiring. Seyfert will take over in mid-January.
Longtime Senate staffer Terry Van Doren has left the Hill. He spent the last decade in the office of outgoing Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell. “From my early days as a legislative assistant for my home state [Illinois] Senator Peter Fitzgerald to my first tenure with Leader McConnell, to serving Secretary of Agriculture and then-Senator Mike Johanns, and finally returning to Leader McConnell for a decade-long tour of duty, every chapter has been rewarding,” Van Doren wrote.
Kayden Guymon joined the Missouri Farm Bureau as director of regulatory affairs and policy counsel. He was previously an associate at Haden & Colbert, a Missouri law firm.
Petersen Consulting Services, a longstanding leader in agricultural professional services, is rebranding as Petersen & Company. This new name pays tribute to founder Bob Petersen who retired in 2024. Erica Venancio, Petersen’s daughter, is now the firm’s principal. Petersen worked at USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service in the 1970s.
Jeremy Wood began a new position as program specialist at the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service Office of Civil Rights. He has worked for USDA for 23 years, recently as DEIA strategy and policy adviser.
The International Dairy Foods Association promoted Mariah Minnick to manager of communications. Prior to joining IDFA in 2023, Minnick worked at the National Association of Conservation Districts and Environment Maryland.
Mariah Minnick, IDFAUSDA appointed 11 members to the National Potato Promotion Board beginning March 1. Read more about the producer and public members here.
The Meat Institute hired Nicole Johnson-Hoffman as chief operating officer. She worked at Cargill for 12 years as a vice president and was most recently senior vice president at OSI group, leading the McDonald’s business unit and serving as chief sustainability officer. Bryan Burns will be promoted to general counsel. The two will succeed outgoing COO and general counsel Mark Dopp, who will retire in March.
USDA appointed 156 delegates – including 150 producers and six importers – to the 2025 National Pork Producers Delegate Body. A minimum of two producers are represented from each state, if states choose to participate. View the full list of appointed members.
Caprock Strategies recently hired Jennifer Warren, former communications director at National Sorghum Producers, as senior director of policy communications and Amira Iwuala and Erin Bacon as policy associates. Iwuala worked at the Alliance to End Hunger and was a Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellow. Bacon is a former Tennessee FFA state officer who recently earned a law degree at Ohio Northern University.
Hailey Gilbreath is the new director of communications at the Kansas Beef Council. She previously worked as a communications manager at the United Sorghum Checkoff and was a marketing coordinator at Ranchbot Monitoring Solutions.
United Soybean Board members elected Philip Good of Mississippi as the organization’s 2025 chair. He will lead the board of 10 additional farmer leaders this year. Steve Reinhard will move into the past chair position after completing a year of service.
Abbey Fretz was promoted to deputy administrator for legislative and public affairs at in the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to lead a team of 80 legislative and public affairs professionals. She was previously associate deputy administrator.
USDA appointed seven to new terms on the National Honey Board effective Jan. 1. They represent producers, handlers and importers from six states. Read more about the appointees.
Natalie Henderson joined the Almond Board of California as director of global communications. She has more than 20 years of experience, including 15 years at E. & J. Gallo Winery.
USDA appointed four to the Mushroom Council: Tony Stachurski of Texas, Laura Matar of Pennsylvania, Chris Alonzo of Pennsylvania and Jack Guan of California. Terms began Jan. 1.
The Washington Grain Commission appointed Nicole Berg and Art Schultheis as commissioners. Berg worked on her family’s farm near Paterson for nearly three decades and is a past president of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers and the National Association of Wheat Growers. Schultheis is a fifth-generation wheat farmer based near Colton who also owns Shepherd’s Grain, a grain handling and milling company.
USDA announced five new members to the National Organic Standards Board for five-year terms: Kathryn Deschenes of Colorado, Amanda Felder of California, Andrea Hatziyannis of Arizona, Cathleen McCluskey of Wisconsin and Corie Pierce of Vermont. Read more about these members.
The United Sorghum Checkoff elected Ethan Miller of Missouri as 2025 chairman. Thirteen members of the board representing the largest sorghum-producing states of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, plus four at-large representatives will complete their terms in the new year. Past Chairman Adam Schindler of South Dakota concluded his term on the board.
Savonne Caughey, Pet Food InstituteThe Pet Food Institute promoted Savonne Caughey to vice president of government affairs and advocacy. She has been with the institute for three years.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee named Joel Miller, former FCC senior legal adviser and chief of staff, as chief counsel and Jessica Donlon, former deputy staff director of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, as general counsel. Chris Sarley, formerly at Cornerstone Government Affairs, was named senior adviser and director of member services and stakeholder engagemen. Matt VanHyfte, formerly at the Small Business Committee, is director of communications. The staff will work under Staff Director Megan Jackson and Deputy Staff Director Sophie Khanahmadi.
Susan Noritake was promoted to vice president of sales and marketing at Bako Sweet. She has been with the company since 2023. Noritake previously worked at Zespri International and Duda Farm Fresh Foods.
Duane Acker, former assistant secretary of agriculture for science and education and administrator of the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, died Dec. 13 in his hometown of Atlantic, Iowa. He was 93. He earlier taught at Iowa State University and was president of Kansas State University and first vice chancellor for agriculture and natural resources at the University of Nebraska. Acker was head of food and agriculture for the U.S. Agency for International Development in the Reagan administration. Acker’s services were held in Atlantic on Dec. 18.
Long-time beef industry leader John L. Huston died last month. He was 80. Houston was former president of the National Livestock and Meat Board in Chicago and retired from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association as executive vice president. His services were held Dec. 20.
Richard B. (Dick) Weiss, former chief operating officer of the National Grange and senior vice president for public relations for the National Dairy Board, died Nov. 10 in Washington. He was 84. He ran the Weiss Consultancy before joining the Grange in the early 2000s, retiring in 2007.
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