A roundup of new employees and appointments in the agribusiness industry.

June 29, 2018

10 Min Read
Names in the News: July 2018

To submit an announcement for Names in the News, please email it to Kristin Bakker at [email protected].

CROPLIFE AMERICA, Washington, D.C. — Bill Kuckuck will retire from his position as executive vice president and chief operating officer on Dec. 31, 2018. Kuckuck joined the association a decade ago to oversee the finance, communications and administrative efforts.

AB VISTA, Marlborough, U.K. — Laura Merriman has appointment swine technical nutritionist in Decatur, Ill. Merriman will be responsible for supporting customers with technical information across the full swine product and service portfolio, including phytase Quantum Blue, xylanase Econase XT and the feed quality and lab services.

 

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE, Washington, D.C. — Stuart Frank has been named director of the Packers & Stockyards Division, Fair Trade Practices Program. Frank was most recently director of the Packers & Stockyards Division's Midwest Regional Office.

 

AGSPRING, Leawood, Kan. — Brian Aust has joined the company as vice president, merchandising. Aust will be responsible for overseeing merchandising decisions for Big River Rice & Grain and Thresher Artisan Wheat.

 

AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION, Washington, D.C. — Sarah Brown Dirkes. has been promoted to executive director of industry relations. Dirkes will be responsible for identifying and building strategic partnerships with industry that support the federation's mission. She will also develop strategies for engaging with industry to optimize strategic policy alliances that strengthen impact, in addition to communicating the bureau's value to various audiences. She was most recently director of external relations.

Dr. John Newton has been promoted to chief economist. Newton will manage the economics team in conducting analysis in support of the organization's advocacy goals for reaching policy objectives and will direct the team's market analysis on issues of interest to grassroots farmer and rancher members and state farm bureau leaders and staff. He was most recently director, market intelligence.

 

AMERICAN FEED INDUSTRY ASSN., Arlington, Va. — Louise Calderwood has joined the association as director of regulatory affairs. Calderwood will provide industry and technical leadership on regulatory and state issues related to pet food and equine nutrition and general regulatory issues. She also will lead the pet food and equine committees and work with the Association of American Feed Control Officials. She was previously with the Northeast Agribusiness & Feed Alliance.

 

AMERICAN HUMANE, Washington, D.C. — Marty Frankhouser has been appointed national director of the American Humane Farm Program.

 

ANIMAL WELLNESS ACTION, Washington, D.C. — Carol Butler has joined the organization as political director.

Marty Irby has joined the organization as executive director. Irby was previously with the Humane Society Legislative Fund.

 

ANIMINE, Sillingy, France — Dr. Alessandra Monteiro has joined the research and development team. Monteiro will coordinate the scientific program of the SUMINAPP (Sustainable Usage of trace MINerals in Animal Production Programs) project.

Dr Jinxiao Zhang has joined the company as technical lead support for Asia Pacific. Jinxiao will provide technical support to distributors and key accounts and will supervise customer trials and scientific experiments with researchers.

 

ANUVIA PLANT NUTRIENTS, Zellwood, Fla. — Ed Zughaft has been appointed senior vice president asset acquisitions and finance. Zughaft will lead acquisition efforts as the company seeks to expand operations with new plants and production facilities. He was most recently senior vice president finance.

 

BALCHEM CORP., New Hampton, N.Y. — Stephanie Cocchiara has joined the animal nutrition and health segment as marketing specialist. Cocchiara will be responsible for digital and social media strategies, event management and domestic marketing program implementation.

Dr. Jeff Elliott has been named technical service specialist, strategic accounts. Elliott will support the ruminant and monogastric sales teams and focus on providing support to global market partners. He was most recently global business manager for the animal nutrition and health minerals platform.

Eileen Frangione has been promoted to regional sales specialist. Frangione will work with nutritionists, dairy producers, veterinarians and channel partners in eastern New York and New England. She was most recently customer service manager and marketing communications manager.

Job van Gunsteren has been named director of Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) region and animal nutrition and health global strategy. Van Gunsteren will maintain the company's position in the European feed choline market while furthering growth in KeyShure and the encapsulated product portfolio.

Luke Lines has been named regional development manager, East. Lines will provide training and strategic direction to other sales professionals while maintaining his commitment to select nutritionists and customers.

Jon Rentschler has been named regional sales specialist. Rentschler will work with customers in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and southwest Kansas to deliver practical business solutions. He was previously with Monsanto.

Fred Sciulli has been promoted to global business manager, minerals. Sciulli will focus on identifying market needs and developing the minerals portfolios to address those challenges. He was most recently manager of financial planning and analysis.

Greta Stridsberg has joined the animal nutrition and health segment as regional sales specialist. Stridsberg will work with key dairies, nutritionists and customers in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.

 

BIOMATRIX INTERNATIONAL, Princeton, Minn. — Chris Beimert has joined the company as production manager.

 

BIOTECHNOLOGY INNOVATION ORGANIZATION, Washington, D.C. — Jeanne Haggerty has been promoted to executive vice president for government affairs and external relations. Haggerty will oversee federal and state government relations as well as alliance development activities at the federal and state levels, including relationships with patient advocacy organizations, state biotechnology associations, university and academic research institutions and other third-party stakeholders across the organization's Health, Industrial & Environmental and Food & Agriculture sectors. She most recently was senior vice president for federal government relations.

 

BROCK GRAIN SYSTEMS, Milford, Ind. — Don Sjolin has been named vice president and general manager. Sjolin will be responsible for leading and providing strategic direction through the oversight of sales, manufacturing and the worldwide network of independent dealers and distributors.

 

CANTRELL, Gainesville, Ga. — Jose A. Erazo has joined the company as sales engineer/project manager. Erazo will be responsible for design and management of all vacuum system projects domestically and internationally.

 

DIAMOND V, Cedar Rapids, Iowa — David Kelly has joined the company as poultry marketing manager. Kelly will lead marketing efforts to the global poultry industry and will collaborate with the company’s research, technical services and sales teams around the world.

Dr. Paulo Raffi has joined the company's Brazil team as poultry technical specialist. Raffi will provide technical support in production and also will focus on food safety assessment and mitigation for the poultry production chain in Brazil. He was previously with Safeeds.

 

FLM HARVEST, Minneapolis, Minn. — Jeff Nawn has joined the board of advisors. Nawn will support clients in a variety of policy, regulatory and trade-related issues critical for maintaining and growing market access. He was previously with Corteva Agriscience.

 

GROWTH ENERGY, Washington, D.C. — Jennifer Morris has joined the organization as vice president of communications and public affairs. Morris will oversee communications and public affairs initiatives in service of biofuel producers and supporters across the U.S. She was previously with Edelman.

 

HARPER INDUSTRIES INC., Harper, Kan. — Joe Biggerstaff has been appointed vice president of engineering. Biggerstaff was previously with AGCO Corp.

 

IMMUCELL, Portland, Maine — Jessy Krause has joined the company as sales and marketing manager for the southern U.S. Krause will work with dairy producers to improve calf health in Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Hawaii. She was previously with Animal Health International.

Jill Sprakel has joined the company as sales and marketing manager in the Midwestern territory. Sprakel will work with dairy producers to improve calf health in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa.

 

KENT NUTRITION GROUP, Muscatine, Iowa — Cody Vantiger has been promoted to product manager. Vantiger will be responsible for product management of the swine, show feeds and sheep and goat product species and for analyzing and launching new products. He was most recently associate product manager of show feeds and swine.

 

KINCANNON & REED, Waynesboro, Va. — Paul Izenstark has joined the firm as managing director. Izenstark will focus on senior executive recruitments for consumer packaged goods clients as well as marketing, marketing communications, sales, branding and business development roles across all of the firm's practices.

 

LAND O'LAKES INC., Arden Hills, Minn. — Beth Ford has been appointed president and chief executive officer, effective Aug. 1. Ford was most recently chief operating officer of Land O'Lakes businesses.

 

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, Columbus, Ohio — Gary Pierzynski has joined the College of Food, Agricultural & Environmental Sciences as associate dean for research and graduate education. Pierzynski will work with faculty, staff and students to enhance research productivity and the impact of those efforts. He was previously with Kansas State University.

 

PAPILLON AGRICULTURAL CO., Easton, Md. — Gerri McGuire has joined the company as chief financial officer. McGuire was previously with TGM Group LLC.

 

PAS REFORM, Zeddam, Netherlands — Kalinga Nandadasa has been appointed service manager in Sri Lanka. Nandadasa will be responsible for customer service in Sri Lanka and the surrounding countries. He was previously with CIC Feeds.

 

RENEWABLE FUELS ASSN., Washington, D.C. — Scott Richman will join the organization as chief economist in early August. Richman will lead the development and execution of a range of research and analysis initiatives to support the mission and objectives. He was previously with Informa Agribusiness Consulting.

 

TEXAS A&M AGRILIFE RESEARCH & EXTENSION CENTER, Amarillo, Texas — Dr. Juan Piñeiro has joined the faculty as dairy specialist.

 

OBITUARYDr. Zerle Leon Carpenter, 83, a professor and leader in animal science, meat science and agricultural administration, passed away on July 23, 2018, at his home in Bryan, Texas. Carpenter earned his bachelor's degree in animal husbandry from Oklahoma A&M in 1957 and earned his Ph.D. in meat and muscle biology from the University of Wisconsin.

In 1962, he began his 35-year career with Texas A&M University as an assistant professor of animal science. He was named head of the animal science department in 1978, director of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service in 1982 and associate vice chancellor for agriculture in 1988, later serving in national advisory roles. He retired from Texas A&M in 1997 as director, associate vice chancellor and professor emeritus.

Carpenter contributed to more than 600 articles, papers, abstracts and other professional publications. In 1987, the American Society of Animal Science awarded him the title of fellow in recognition of outstanding contributions to the livestock industry. Carpenter was inducted into the Texas A&M Animal Science Hall of Fame in 2013 and was inducted into the Meat Industry Hall of Fame in 2014.

OBITUARY — Analyst Sterling Liddell passed away on July 4, according to a news release from Rabo AgriFinance. Sterling was vice president of global data for Rabo AgriFinance, with expertise in markets in a variety of commodity sectors, grains, livestock, agricultural policy, macroeconomics and more. “His unique and broad set of knowledge made him a globally sought-after resource on agricultural economics, macro trends and more. He has always been an excellent ambassador for Rabo AgriFinance, Rabobank and the agricultural industry,” Curt Hudnutt, head of rural North America at Rabo AgriFinance, said.

OBITUARYEugene "Gene" Sukup, founder of Sukup Manufacturing Co., the world's largest family-owned manufacturer of grain bins, dryers and other grain handling equipment, died July 12 at the age of 89. Gene and his wife Mary founded Sukup Manufacturing, based in Sheffield, Iowa, in 1963. He served as president for 32 years before his son Charles was named president in 1995. Son Steve is chief financial officer, and Mary is the company's corporate secretary. Sukup still served as chairman of the board until his death. His first patent was for grain stirring equipment he invented to prevent corn from spoiling when stored in a bin, and he received approximately four dozen patents over the years.

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