Lydia Johnson

2 weeks ago | agri-pulse.com | Lydia Johnson

Jimmy Emmons was named assistant chief of USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service. He is the third generation on his Oklahoma farm growing wheat, soybeans, sesame, sunflowers, irrigated alfalfa, canola, grain sorghum and cover crops for seed. With his wife, he also manages a 250-head cow-calf herd. Braxton Wenk was named chief of staff in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Congressional Relations.

2 weeks ago | agri-pulse.com | Lydia Johnson

The Western Tree Nut Association named new officers for the board of directors. Kirk Squire, director of grower relations at Horizon Nut, was appointed as the chair of the board. He has been with the company since 2010 in grower relations, quality control and plant sanitation positions. Additional officers include: Jonathan Hoff with Monte Vista Farms as first vice chair, David Stanfield with Summerfield Farms as second vice chair and Amy Sihto with El Dorado Almonds as secretary/treasurer.

3 weeks ago | agri-pulse.com | Lydia Johnson

In a push to make more conservation practices that improve water quality and soil health available to landowners, Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., reintroduced legislation to modernize the approval process for conservation technologies. The “Streamlining Conservation Practice Standards Act” would require the Natural Resources Conservation Service to update the review process for existing conservation practice standards at least once every five years on a rolling basis.

3 weeks ago | agri-pulse.com | Lydia Johnson

The Animal Health Institute hired Martha Scott Poindexter as chief executive officer. She was chief operating officer at the U.S. Dairy Export Council. Poindexter has held numerous positions on Capitol Hill, including as staff director for both the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. She was the first woman to hold both positions. Poindexter grew up on a cotton, rice and soybean farm in the Mississippi Delta.

3 weeks ago | agri-pulse.com | Lydia Johnson

Erin Morris has been appointed to lead the Agricultural Marketing Service after Bruce Summers retires this month. She will be responsible for agency functions including grading, auditing, and laboratory testing that help producers demonstrate the value and integrity of their commodities, operating the USDA Market News Service, and administering the Packers and Stockyards Act and the National Organic Program. The AMS operates under the Department’s Marketing and Regulatory Programs mission area.