WASHINGTON, June 14, 2017 - President Trump has chosen Dawn DeBerry Stump to fill a seat on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The West Texas native has four years of experience on the staff of the Senate Agriculture Committee, where she worked on futures regulation and the 2008 farm bill. She also represented the committee during negotiations on the Dodd-Frank law enacted in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. If confirmed, she’d be the first member of the CFTC with an agricultural or farm policy background since Bart Chilton left the agency in 2014.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has selected the chief Republican counsel for the Senate Agriculture Committee, Anne Hazlett, to be his new assistant to the secretary for rural development. The position will replace the undersecretary for rural development, a Senate-confirmed position which Perdue is eliminating as part of a reorganization of the department.
Terry O’Neel was elected president of the National Pork Board at the organization’s June board meeting in Des Moines, Iowa. O’Neel and his wife Diane own and operate O’Neel Farms in Friend, Nebraska, a farrow-to-finish pig farm that markets 12,000 pigs annually. O’Neel most recently served as the board’s vice president. Serving with O’Neel on the executive officer team of the Pork Checkoff is Vice President Steve Rommereim, from Alcester, South Dakota, and Treasurer Brett Kaysen, from Nunn, Colorado.
Peter Stehouwer has joined Bayer as deputy director for federal relations. He previously worked as legislative director for Rep. Billy Long, R-Mo., handling the congressman’s business before the Energy and Commerce Committee. Before that, the Western Michigan University alum had stints with Michigan GOP Reps. Bill Huizenga and Pete Hoekstra.
Gabe Middleton is the new president-elect of the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology. A veterinarian, Middleton has been involved with CAST since 2014 as the board representative for the American Association of Bovine Practitioners. He also serves as the vice chair for the Animal Agriculture and Environmental Issues Work Group. Middleton will officially assume his responsibilities as president-elect after CAST’s fall board meeting in October and in 2018-2019, he will become CAST’s 46th president.
Mykel Wedig has left her job as a legislative assistant with the House Agriculture Committee. She’s now working in the personal office of Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C. Wedig came to Capitol Hill from the National Pork Producers Council where the Iowa State grad served as manager of congressional relations.
Bon Voyage to Eleanor Bastian, who has left the office of Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., to take advantage of a fellowship offered by her alma mater, Wellesley College. The fellowship allows her to travel around the world for a year studying renewable energy and climate policy. Bastian worked in DeGette’s office for six years, most recently as legislative director.
Wheat Growers, a grain and agronomy co-op centered in South and North Dakota, has hired Tracy Linbo as senior vice president of agronomy. Linbo joins the organization after serving 10 years at DuPont Pioneer, most recently as director for global strategy planning.
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