Dianne Nellor, a 24-year veteran of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined Cornerstone Government Affairs as a principal. She most recently was staff director of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and related agencies.
Field to Market elected new officers and directors. Jack Scott, vice president of sustainable sourcing at Nestlé Purina, is chair. David Stanko, senior director of sustainable agriculture at Nutrien, is vice chair; Scott Manley, director of agriculture support at Ducks Unlimited, is treasurer, and Brandon Hunnicutt, Nebraska Corn Board member, is secretary.
Heather Flick will assume the chief of staff role for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the Department of Health and Human Services. Stephanie Spear, who told others she would be Kennedy's chief of staff, will instead be principal deputy chief of staff and a senior counselor to the Secretary. Lawyer Aaron Siri was removed from advising the presidential transition, according to a spokesperson. People familiar with the matter said Siri's vaccine stance played a role in the decision.
USDA appointed 25 industry representatives to the Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee. A full list of members including brokers, distributors, wholesalers, farm organizations, growers, trade associations, and shipper members, among other categories, is available here. Members will serve two-year terms ending in January 2027.
Leonardo Martinez-Diaz is now senior fellow and director of the sustainability, climate and geopolitics program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He previously led the climate finance team in the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate at the State Department and was deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury Department for energy and environment.
John Fred, UPL UPL appointed John Fred to chief legal officer. As part of the crop protection executive team, he will be responsible for legal matters in the global crop protection business. He has been with UPL since April 2024, most recently as North America legal head.
The Bureau of Land Management announced 15 members and 11 alternate members appointed to the National Advisory Committee for Implementation of the BLM Public Lands Rule. A full list of committee members representing state and local governments, the public at large, science community, non-governmental organizations, energy or mineral development, federal grazing permit holders and commercial recreation activities is available here. The group will deliberate and vote on matters concerning the implementation of BLM’s Conservation and Landscape Health Rule.
Keely Coppess rejoined the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship as chief communications officer. She recently worked in food and agriculture communications at the public relations agency Look East and earlier was the department's communications director.
USDA announced the appointment of 14 members to the Plant Variety Protection Board. The members include farmers as well as industry, private, public and government representatives. New members will serve two-year terms.
ClearPath hired Lisa Epifani as head of policy. She previously led sustainability and ESG engagement at Chevron and has experience at the Energy Department, Senate Energy Committee and the White House.
The American Great Lakes Ports Association appointed Brian Oszakiewski executive director. He has been chief of staff for a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee member and at the National Transportation Safety Board. Oszakiewski succeeds Steve Fisher, who is retiring after 30 years at the organization.
Jeremy Wood is now a program specialist in the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service Office of Civil Rights. He was previously DEIA strategy and policy adviser at the agency.
Circular Action Alliance hired Rachel Wagoner as California executive director. She was director of the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery program.
The Mid America CropLife Association named Rodney Schmidt executive director. He was in the crop protection and seed industries, including Bayer Crop Science, ICI Americas and Aventis. He has been a MACA member more than 10 years, serving as president in 2021-22.
Amanda Sollman was promoted to senior manager of digital and MarTech at PTx Trimble. She was previously a marketing operations manager.
Farmers National Co
Jason Dodd | Farmers National Co.. appointed Jason Dodd area vice president for the eastern region. He worked at Pioneer Hi-Bred and Corteva Agriscience for more than 25 years. Based in Pittsboro, Indiana, Dodd will lead the eastern region farm management and real estate team.
The Union of Concerned Scientists hired Kate Anderson as director of the food and environment program. She previously led the Sightline Institute’s farm and forests research program.
Winta Tewolde was promoted to partner at Guidehouse, leading work on federal civilian agencies, USDA and business transformation. She was previously a director working as USDA account lead. Tewolde worked at USDA for six years, including as special assistant to the under secretary for rural development for five years, helping implement the 2014 farm bill's rural development title.
The Meat Institute hired Nicole Johnson-Hoffman as chief operating officer. She worked at Cargill for 12 years, most recently as senior vice president leading the McDonald’s business unit and 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.
Elad Aharonson was appointed president and CEO of the ICL Group. He has been president of the ICL Growing Solutions business, which focuses on plant nutrition, for nearly four years.
Trinity Fruit Co. promoted Angela Hernandez to vice president of marketing. She has been with the company since 2018 and previously was marketing coordinator at Fowler Packing Co.
Kishan Dumpeta was appointed CEO at Tierra Agrotech Ltd. He was previously chief operating officer at Biostadt India Ltd. and worked at Syngenta for 15 years, most recently as head of seeds strategy and programs for the Asia Pacific region.
Bob Siegel joined Farm Credit Mid-America as regional vice president of agricultural lending for East Central Ohio. He previously was vice president of credit at a livestock marketing cooperative in Columbus for 13 years.
Pattern Energy Group hired Jonathan Glueck as senior director of strategic finance. He held various roles at Morgan Stanley and was manager of government affairs at the National Milk Producers Federation.
Kim Rominger, CEO of the North American Equipment Dealers Association, announced plans to retire. Robert Half Executive Search will help the organization find its next CEO.
Luis Abreu was named chief information officer at Case New Holland. Abreu has been with CNH and its predecessor companies for more than two decades.
Neogen Corp. named David Naemura chief operating officer in addition to his role as chief financial officer. He has been with the company since 2022. He previously was chief financial officer for Vontier Corp. and Gates International Corp. He succeeds Doug Jones, who retires next month.
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