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Names in the News - December 12, 2018
 

Tennessee consultants to further agribusiness development

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Agriculture Commissioner Jai Templeton is announcing two staff appointments that will support the creation and expansion of agribusiness opportunities in Tennessee.

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) welcomes Kyle Hensley as agribusiness development coordinator and Greer Gill as agribusiness development consultant for food business growth. Hensley and Gill join TDA’s Agricultural Advancement Division, where they will assist in building and advancing agricultural, food and forestry businesses.

Hensley, a Lenoir City native, most recently worked for the University of Tennessee Herbert College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources as a program coordinator for recruitment. He earned a bachelor of science in agricultural economics and an MBA from UT. He will focus on agribusiness and rural development, including supporting the Governor’s Rural Task Force and managing the Agriculture Enterprise Fund.

Gill, whose family raises cattle in Petersburg, joined TDA in 2016 as a marketing consultant. She worked with farmers’ market vendors and managers to expand their impact in local communities and assisted in development and expansion of organic and community supported agriculture producers across the state.

She will be responsible for developing a strategic plan for and cultivating business opportunities in food, beverage and other related sectors.

Holcomb makes appointments to Indiana Egg Board

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Gov. Eric J. Holcomb recently announced four reappointments to the Indiana Egg Board.

The following board members’ terms will expire on Sept. 30, 2021: Gregory Hinton (Seymour), vice president of sales at Rose Acre Farms; Thomas Klump (Aurora), procurement manager with Kroger Co.; Robert Krouse (North Manchester), CEO of Midwest Poultry Services, L.P.; and Margaret Titus (West Lafayette), retired with 37 years of service with Purdue University extension.

Slayton appointed assistant state forester for Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Agriculture Commissioner Jai Templeton announced the appointment of Heather Slayton as assistant state forester for the Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) Division of Forestry.

Slayton will be the first woman to serve as assistant state forester. She will be responsible for overseeing the division budget, contributing to development of short- and long-term strategic and tactical plans and developing the division’s workforce. She will also supervise the administration of the forest health and sustainability unit, as well as the reforestation unit.

Slayton succeeds David Arnold, who recently became Tennessee’s state forester. She began working at TDA in 2012 as a forest health specialist. She transitioned to the role of forest health sustainability unit leader in 2014. Slayton was raised in Danville, Va. and earned a B.S. in forestry from Virginia Tech.

Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever hire Bastron in Indiana

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever have appointed Phil Bastron, an Indiana native and avid upland hunter, to serve as the organizations' new Indiana regional representative.

In this role, Bastron will provide support for volunteers in the Hoosier State – currently home to 14 Pheasants Forever chapters, 10 Quail Forever chapters and more than 3,600 members – as they focus on public and private lands habitat management efforts for pheasants, quail and other wildlife.

Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever empower county and local chapters with the responsibility to determine how 100 percent of their locally raised conservation funds will be spent, the only national conservation organizations' who operate through this truly grassroots structure. With a growing footprint in Indiana, Bastron will help guide local chapters to promote new habitat projects, while helping to create stronger partnerships with state agencies, corporate supporters and donors.

Earning his master’s degree in public policy from the University of Minnesota, Bastron was most recently the assistant director of Alumni Relations for the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, focusing on relationship cultivation and development leads with university alumni. For more information about Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever in Indiana, contact him at 262-945-8477 or PBastron@PheasantsForever.Org

Perdue appoints members to USDA NAREEE advisory board

WASHINGTON, D.C. — USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue announced the appointment of 10 members to serve on the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education and Economics Advisory Board.

The board regularly advises the secretary and land-grant colleges and universities on top national priorities and policies related to food and agricultural research, education, extension and economics. Its main objective is to contribute to effective federal agricultural research, education and economics programs through broad stakeholder feedback and sound science.

Board members also perform an annual review of the relevance of the research, education, economics and extension programs at USDA and the adequacy of funding for those programs. These appointees will serve three-year terms that expire Sept. 30. They include, from this region:

•Lisabeth Hobart, Government Relations manager, GROWMARK, Inc., Bloomington, Ill. (Category B. Farm Cooperatives)

•Dr. Sarah Francis, associate professor of human sciences, nutrition and wellness, Iowa State University, Ames (Category J. National Nutritional Science Society)

•Dr. Jayson Lusk, department head, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. (Category Y. National Social Science Assoc.)

Each of the 25 board members represents a specific category of U.S. agricultural stakeholders as outlined in the Agricultural Act of 2014. Terms for members overlap so that approximately one-third of the board is replaced and/or reappointed each year.

Syngenta announces winner of 2018 #RootedinAg contest

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Katharine Girone of Varna, Ill., is the grand prize winner of the 2018 Thrive #RootedinAg contest from Syngenta. This contest challenges growers and other ag industry professionals across the country to describe the person who most nourished their agricultural roots.

Girone, who works as a program coordinator for 4-H youth development at the University of Illinois extension in Pekin and helps her family operate a fifth-generation farm, chose to honor grandfather Kenneth McKee.

In her winning essay, she wrote: “Though my grandfather is not as young as he once was, when I look at him, I still see the hands of a faithful farmer: hands worn by hard, physical labor; hands that have held life; hands that sowed the seed to feed the world; and hands that welcome me home.”

Girone’s story resonated with both online voters and a panel of judges. After receiving a mini touch-screen tablet alongside the four other deserving finalists, she also won a $500 gift card. Additionally, Syngenta will make a $1,000 donation in her name to the Tazewell County 4-H program. Girone chose this group for the pivotal role it has played in shaping her relationship with her grandfather.

In 2019, the contest will continue, and readers will be invited to tell their own stories of how they are #RootedinAg. To learn more, go to www.SyngentaThrive.com

Hopkinsville Milling’s Harper to lead NAMA as its chair

ARLINGTON, Va. — The North American Millers’ Assoc. (NAMA) announced that Vice Chair Robert Harper was elected chair of its board of directors for the 2018-20 term, succeeding Mark Kolkhorst of ADM Milling Co. (Overland Park, Kan.).

Harper is president of the Hopkinsville Milling Co. (Hopkinsville, Ky.), a miller of flour, corn meal and grits for retail and foodservice customers. He began his work in the milling industry in 1993 and was previously director of operations and director of new product development at Hopkinsville Milling, and is the fifth generation of family to work at mill.

At the same meeting, D. Ford Mennel, president of the Mennel Milling Co. (Fostoria, Ohio), was elected NAMA vice chair for the same term.

Since 1929, NAMA has awarded Honorary Membership as a tribute to individuals with outstanding records of achievement, and years of valuable service to the milling industry. NAMA awarded Honorary Membership to John Gillcrist, Bartlett Milling Co. (Kansas City, Mo.) and Charlie Stout, chair, Grain Craft (Chattanooga, Tenn.).

AgriNovus adds statewide agbioscience leaders to board

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — AgriNovus Indiana, the state’s initiative to promote and accelerate the growth of the agbiosciences sector, has added new members to its board of directors: Luca Bonini, CEO of Italpollina; Brian Emerick, board representative for the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership (NEIRP) and CEO of MicroPulse; and Susanne Wasson, president of the Crop Protection Business Platform for Corteva Agriscience, the Agriculture Division of DowDuPont.

Bonini is the third generation at the helm of his European-based family business with an expansive global reach. Most recently, Italpollina opened its first U.S. manufacturing facility in Anderson, Ind., and is now adding a research and development center, Italpollina Park. He graduated from Bocconi Commercial University in Milan with a degree in business strategy.

Emerick will represent NEIRP on the AgriNovus Board. NEIRP encompasses 11 counties, and its mission is to build, market and sell Northeast Indiana to increase business investments. He has helped launch 10 companies through his “Orthovation” business incubator and serves on the board of trustees of AgriNovus investor Huntington University. He has a bachelor of science in marketing from Indiana Wesleyan University and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame.

Wasson is the board representative to AgriNovus for Corteva. She held several leadership roles with Dow AgroSciences, and is also currently on the board of directors of United Way of Central Indiana and is the board chair of Crop Life America and the National FFA Foundation Sponsors Board. She earned degrees in agricultural economics and accounting from Oklahoma State University and a master of science in agricultural economics from Texas A&M.

 

12/13/2018