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Names in the News - November 16, 2017
 

Crop Pro adds recognized data scientist to management

JOHNSTON, Iowa — Crop Pro Insurance, a new managing general agent (MGA) specializing in crop insurance, has expanded its experienced leadership team with the addition of Brian Donaghy as its director of Data Science.

Donaghy brings more than 20 years of experience in venture capital and data technology creation to Crop Pro, including leadership roles at Broadhorn Capital, Appcore, Smart Online, Growth Ventures Group and Computility. He also raises organic, grass-fed beef cattle.

Donaghy was named CEO of the Year by the Technology Assoc. of Iowa for his visionary work at Appcore. He led the company to exponential growth and an acquisition by IBM. Prior to Appcore, he served for 10 years as partner and CTO of Growth Ventures Group, Inc. architecting and delivering business process technology products and companies.

NFU honors Champions of Agriculture with Golden Triangle

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Farmers Union (NFU) proudly recognized 33 outstanding U.S. senators and representatives who have demonstrated leadership and support at the federal policymaking level for family farmers, ranchers and their rural communities.

The Golden Triangle Award, the family farm organization’s highest legislative honor, was presented to recipients at an awards reception during NFU’s Fall Legislative Fly-In. First presented in 1988, it symbolizes the core principles of the NFU: education, cooperation, and legislation.

This year’s Golden Triangle honorees were selected for their leadership and dedication to improving the livelihoods of family farmers and ranchers. The recipients in the Farm World region are: Sens. Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Dick Durbin (Illinois) and Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow (Michigan); and Reps. Cheri Bustos (Illinois), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio) and Dave Loebsack (Iowa).

Ohio Hereford Futurity Highlight of Hereford Weekend

PLEASANT CITY, Ohio — On Sept. 30 Rick VanFleet and his family hosted a Hereford Field day at their family farm in Pleasant City. This was the start of the Hereford weekend cosponsored by the Buckeye Hereford Assoc. (BHA) and the Switzerland of Ohio Polled Hereford Assoc.

On Oct. 1 Hereford breeders from across Ohio gathered at the Guernsey Co. Fairgrounds in Old Washington. The BHA hosted the annual event, which showcases Ohio-bred seedstock. Judge Scott Brown of Quaker City evaluated 55 head of the finest Hereford stock from across the state.

2017 Ohio Hereford Futurity Champions are:

•Grand Champion Bull (pictured): UHF 10Y Home Boy U26D ET, a December 2016 bull sired by NJW 73S W18 Hometown 10Y ET, bred by Creek Bottom Farm, Navarre, Ohio, and owned by Ralph E. Ullman & Son, Graysville

•Reserve Champion Bull: NS HF Director 611, December 2016 bull sired by R Leader 6964, bred and owned by Bryce and Cole Hines, Bidwell

•Grand Champion Female: NS 4R Rachael 512, a September 2015 heifer sired by MSU TCF Revolution 4R, bred by Allie Steiner, Mason, and owned by Bryce and Cole Hines, Bidwell

•Reserve Champion Female: DDF Dixie, a May 2016 heifer sired by NJW 73S M326 Trust 100W ET, bred and owned by Diamond D Herefords, Kimbolton

•Grand Champion Cow/Calf Pair: Creek 4R Libby 201Z, sired by MSU TCF Revolution 4R, with an April heifer calf by NJW 73S W18 Hometown 10Y ET. Pair bred and owned by Creek Bottom Farm, Navarre

•Reserve Champion Cow/Calf Pair: HH Jamie 491, sired by NJW 98S R117 Ribeye 88X ET with a March heifer calf by PKWMS Jamie Jo Outback 7491. Cow bred by Emily Beanblossom, Bradford, and owned by Kyndall Williams, Mt. Gilead

•Grand Champion Prospect Steer: Harmony Hill Blaze, an April steer sired by GRF World Wide 3024, bred and owned by Harmony Hill Herefords, Newcomerstown

•Reserve Champion Prospect Steer: Creek Rambo, a January steer sired by NJW 73S W18 Hometown 10Y ET, bred and owned by Creek Bottom Farm, Navarre

•Champion Expo Class : LBK W89 Trixie 9A, an April 2013 cow sired by Glenview 5052 Choice Domino W89ET, bred by Brian and Lisa Keets, Berlin Heights, and owned by Olivia Shaulis, Ravenna

•Champion Junior & Senior Get of Sire: Harmony Hill Herefords, Newcomerstown, with groups sired by GRF World Wide 3024 ET

•Best six head, Premier Breeder & Premier Exhibitor: Creek Bottom Farm, The Johnson Family, Navarre

Central Life Sciences welcomes new employee to Starbar

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — Central Life Sciences welcomes Kyle Vincent to the sales team for its Farm & Ranch division. He will be joining the organization as a sales development manager. In this role, he will be responsible for product sales to distributors and dealer stores across the country.

Prior to joining Central Life Sciences, Vincent held a key accounts manager position at AniMart, where he monitored the sales of animal health products to key dairy, beef and dealer accounts throughout the northeastern United States. Currently enrolled at Ashford University, he is working toward earning his bachelor’s degree in business leadership, focused on strengthening the skills of managerial positions in business.

Organic Farmers Assoc. announces policy leadership

KUTZTOWN, Pa. — The Organic Farmers Assoc. (OFA), a national membership organization for certified organic farmers, sponsored by Rodale Institute, has announced a new policy director and elected the first Policy Committee.

This new leadership will facilitate OFA’s policy platform created by certified organic farmer-members. Mark Rokala will serve as policy director and lead policy work, under the direction of the newly elected Policy Committee and coordinating closely with OFA Director Kate Mendenhall and Steering Committee Chair Jim Riddle.

Rokala will be leading work on the farm bill, helping identify OFA farmer-members' policy priorities, connecting members with Congressional leaders and ensuring that federal policies help support thriving independent organic farmers. He has more than 28 years of experience in agriculture policy, with 23 of those working on state and federal agricultural policy. He worked for seven years as a congressional staffer on Capitol Hill and 16 years as a lobbyist in D.C. focusing on agricultural and food policy.

The Policy Committee is made up of 12 voting certified organic farmers and six advisory organizational members. Committee members are regionally diverse and reflect the national diversity of organic farms. It includes from this region North Central Region farmer representative (voting) Francis Thicke of Radiance Dairy Fairfield, Iowa, and non-voting, Matthew Miller of the Iowa Organic Assoc., Ames; Midwest Region farmer representative (voting) Michael Adsit of Plymouth Orchards, Plymouth, Mich.; and Southern Region farmer representative (voting) Laura Freeman, Mt. Folly Farm, Winchester, Ky.

Sparks joins Ceres Solutions Cooperative leadership

CRAWFORDSVILLE Ind. — In late September, an invitation was extended to David Sparks to join the Ceres Solutions Cooperative board of directors in a non-voting, advisory leadership role. He has accepted the position and has begun providing expert counsel to the large Crawfordsville-based agribusiness.

Sparks is well known in regional financial circles and the agribusiness sector for his decades of industry experience. Prior to accepting the role of advisory director, he served as Eastern Region president for the Agribusiness Banking Group of CoBank.

Sparks began his tenure at CoBank in 1996. Today, he contributes his talents to a number of agribusiness and industry boards, and also commits time and resources to a variety of Christian-based volunteer organizations in the Louisville area.

Michigan duck wins nationwide Miss Flock-Tober pageant

BELLEVUE, Mich. — Purina Poultry is excited to announce the Grand Prize winner in the second-annual Miss Flock-Tober pageant Mindie Dittemore of Bellevue is the proud flock raiser of Miss Flock-Tober, a duck named Baby Girl. She is the first duck to ever win a Purina Flock-Tober contest.

Baby Girl captured the title after competing with more than 1,000 poultry across the country as part of annual Purina Flock-Tober festivities. As the reigning queen of Flock-Tober, Dittemore and Baby Girl will receive a year's supply of poultry feed.

AAEA’s Lusk named winner of Borlaug CAST award

DES MOINES, Iowa — AAEA Past President Jayson Lusk is this year’s recipient of the Borlaug CAST Communication Award, presented at the World Food Prize Symposium on Oct. 18.

CAST (The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology) presents the award annually for “outstanding achievement by a scientist, engineer, technologist or other professional working in the agricultural, environmental or food sectors for contributing to the advancement of science in the public policy arena.”

It is named after Norman Borlaug, the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize winner, for his contributions to the safety and advancement of the global food supply.

Lusk, who was also named an AAEA Fellow in 2015, has published multiple books and nearly 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He uses multiple media to communicate information on food and agricultural economics, and is used frequently as a trusted source by journalists across the country. He was recently named head of the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University.

“It is incredibly humbling to receive an award named after Norman Borlaug, a man whose work, quite literally, saved millions of lives,” Lusk said. “Now more than ever, it is important for the public and policymakers to have science and evidence-based information about food and agriculture. If we want to solve some of society’s most pressing problems in food and agriculture, we will need innovation and science, and it is important that the public understands the consequences of policies and consumption choices.”

Brown joins Rural Media Group as chief operating officer

NASHVILLE, TENN. — Rural Media Group announced the appointment of Alexander “Sandy” Brown as chief operating officer, effective immediately. He is an accomplished executive with a proven track record leading sports media and entertainment companies bringing more than 25 years of executive management experience to the company.

 

As group president and COO, Brown will lead the company’s operating businesses worldwide focusing on the RMG brand family, which includes RFD-TV, The Cowboy Channel and Rural Radio Channel 147 on SiriusXM.

He earned a B.A. from Washington and Lee University in Virginia. He is a past board member of the Cable and Satellite Broadcasters of Asia, the Economic Development Board of Singapore, the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore and the Sentosa Development Corporation of Singapore.

Syngenta names Illinois winner in #RootedinAg contest

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Tori Streitmatter of Sparland, Ill., is the grand prizewinner of the 2017 Thrive #RootedinAg contest from Syngenta. This contest challenged growers and other ag industry professionals across the country to describe the person who most nourished their agricultural roots.

Streitmatter, who currently works in human resources and recruiting for agricultural supply cooperative Growmark, Inc., chose her father, Dave. “My father is who I credit for fueling my fire for agriculture,” she wrote in her winning essay. “He was my biggest motivator throughout my 4-H and FFA days.

“He taught me how to work hard without expecting anything in return, live simply, stay humble, respect everyone’s ideas, give back to my community, problem-solve, stand up for what I believe in and always hold my farm family close to my heart.”

In addition to the mini touch-screen tablet that she, along with four other finalists, received earlier in the competition, Streitmatter has won a $500 gift card. Syngenta also will make a $1,000 donation in her name to the Midland FFA Alumni to help students who are pursuing ag degrees in her local area attend regional and national conferences.

She is the latest winner in the annual Syngenta Thrive contest. Thrive is the company’s news magazine and website created specifically for U.S. growers and agribusiness professionals. 2017 marks the fourth consecutive year Syngenta has sponsored an essay contest for its readers.

 

11/17/2017