Lydia Johnson

The Bureau of Land Management has tapped Joe Stout to serve as California state director. He will oversee 15 million acres of public lands and 42 million acres of minerals and energy resources in California, as well as 1.6 million surface acres in northwestern Nevada.

Former Sorghum Checkoff Chair Verity Ulibarri was elected U.S. Grains Council board chair at the USGC annual meeting in Salt Lake City. She is the second sorghum sector representative to chair the council board in recent history. USDA promoted Carlton Bridgeforth to White House liaison.

The Congressional Budget Office is expected today to issue its full cost estimate for the farm bill approved by the House Ag Committee in May.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce appointed former congressman Rodney Davis as head of government affairs. The American Egg Board announced new hires: Bill Winkelman, Nick Jones and Erica Mirth. Grace Hasler joined the National Corn Growers Association. The U.S. Grains Council promoted Carlos Suarez to the newly created role of director of global sustainability and hired Stephanie Larson and Emma Dostal.

Republicans left the GOP convention expressing fresh optimism that they could make significant gains in the Senate in November, but President Joe Biden’s decision to end his re-election effort has injected new uncertainty into swing-state races.

Washington veteran Eric Steiner will join Olsson Frank Weeda Terman Matz’s (OFW) Government Relations’ team as a senior policy advisor. The Agriculture Department announced senior appointments and promotions across the agency, including: Cindy Long, Sean Babington, and Eric Deeble. CoBank named; Sean Burke; as chief financial officer. He will lead the cooperative bank’s finance group. Animal Health Institute president and CEO Mathews will retire at the end of 2024.

The Republican National Convention is in the books. Republicans are leaving Milwaukee far more unified and optimistic than they were the first time Donald Trump was nominated for president, in Cleveland in 2016.

The Republican National Convention wraps up tonight with Donald Trump’s acceptance speech, which comes amid some continued uncertainty about who will be running against him in November. The big question is what tone he will strike in the wake of his assassination attempt.

The Republican National Convention moves into its third day, with a focus on national security. But we can expect a continued focus on immigration and China as well as the Middle East.