Sacramento Valley farmer Roger Cornwell was elected chair of the Northern California Water Association board of directors. He previously chaired the board of directors for Reclamation District 108 for the past eight years and was inaugural Chair of the Sacramento River Settlement Contractors. Cornwell also serves as the General Manager of Sutter Mutual Water Company, RD 1500 and the Basin Irrigation and Drainage Authority. 
Former Northern California Water Association Chair Bryce Lundberg ceremoniously exchanged office keys and a bobblehead of himself with his successor Roger Cornwell, current chair of Reclamation District 108, during the NCWA annual meeting. (Photo: Chloe Lovejoy)
Rep. George Whitesides, D-Calif., hired Gabriel Harrison as a legislative aide covering environmental protection and emergency management issues. Whitesides is a graduate of the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Tyler Hassen, the head of oilfield services company Basin Energy, has been named assistant secretary of policy, management and budget at the Department of the Interior. He will take over for Charlie Dankert. Hassen has been a Department of Government Efficiency staffer embedded in the department.
Senate Ag Committee member Adam Schiff, D-Calif., hired several staff members. Michael Harris was named policy adviser for energy and environment. He was senior adviser of congressional affairs at the Environmental Protection Agency. Caitlin Balagula was named legislative assistant covering agriculture, food and animal issues. She worked for the House Ag Committee under ranking Democrat, Rep. David Scott of Georgia. Balagula was a special adviser to then-Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. Erin Sandlin joined the office as scheduling director. She was previously deputy director of scheduling at USDA.
The American Solar Grazing Association hired Stacie Peterson as executive director. She was director of the AgriSolar Clearinghouse and director of energy programs at the National Center for Appropriate Technology. ASGA says there were more then 130,000 acres of solar grazing in 30 states in 2024.
Former White House environmental staffer Jonathan Black joined the office of Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., as senior policy adviser. He was senior director for chemical safety and plastic pollution prevention in the White House Council on Environmental Quality and Senate legislative affairs liaison in the Biden administration.
The National Association of Wheat Growers hired Anthony Peña as policy manager. He was government relations manager at the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association and worked for Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.
Anthony Peña, National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG photo) Cibus announced that Peter Beetham, the company’s president and chief operating officer, will serve as interim chief executive officer. He succeeds Rory Riggs, who resigned. Beetham co-founded Cibus Global with Greg Gocal, the company’s chief scientific officer, and Riggs, who remains chairman. The board will search for the next CEO from external and internal candidates.
The National Oilseed Processors Association hired Corey McCray as vice president of government affairs. He was a policy adviser at Chevron and at a Washington-based public affairs firm focused on energy sector advocacy.
Bailey McCue joined the Biotechnology Innovation Organization as director of federal government relations. McCue worked for Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and John Boozman, R-Ark.
Former Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., hired Morgan Orem as a legislative assistant covering agriculture. Orem worked for The Russell Group, an agriculture and food lobbying firm.
Mary Galey joined USDA as scheduling director. She worked for Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., as operations director for nearly five years.
The American Association of Swine Veterinarians installed new officers. Locke Karriker, director of the Swine Medicine Education Center and a professor at the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine Department, is president. William Hollis is past president. Hollis became acting president after Angela Baysinger died in March 2024. Rebecca Robbins is president-elect and Chris Rademacher is vice president-elect.
Emily Tuttle-Millard is now deputy communications director at the National Republican Congressional Committee. She was deputy chief of staff for House Ag Committee member Zach Nunn, R-Iowa.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem appointed a former aide from her tenure as governor of South Dakota, Madison Sheahan, as deputy director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Sheahan recently was secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Noem appointed Todd Lyons, former assistant director, as acting ICE director.
Ricki Schroeder left the House Agriculture Committee Republican staff to work for USDA.
Mark White was promoted to senior regulatory policy manager at Syngenta. He has been with the company more than 11 years, recently as regulatory team lead for herbicides.
Allen Harim, a Harbeson, Delaware, poultry integrator, appointed Mike Little chief executive officer. Little began at Allen Family Foods, rising through plant supervision and export sales to become executive vice president of sales. He succeeds Mickey Baugher as CEO. Allen Harim operates in Delaware and North Carolina. It processes 500 million pounds of chicken a year.
Mark Carney was named Canada's prime minister-elect to replace Justin Trudeau, who announced his intention to resign on Jan. 6. In his acceptance speech, Carney spoke of President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canada, calling it the "greatest crisis of our lifetimes." Carney is an economist and was governor of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England.
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