Constance Cullman, AFIA president and CEO, and Mallory Gaines, AFIA’s manager of market access and trade policy, have been appointed to serve on the US Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service’s Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee (APAC) and Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee (ATAC) for Trade in Animals and Animal Products, respectively.
The US feed organization said that Cullman [pictured] and Gaines join Gina Tumbarello, AFIA’s director of international policy and trade, who has served on the ATAC for Trade in Grains, Feed, Oilseeds and Planting Seeds since 2014, in providing valuable technical and policy advice and information about US feed products and the industry to the secretary of agriculture and US Trade Representative (USTR).
Congress established the advisory committee system in 1974 to ensure that US agricultural trade policy objectives reflect US public- and private-sector commercial and economic interests. The US Department of Agriculture and the USTR manage the committees.
Cullman and Gaines will serve until 2024.
The US National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) last month announced the impending retirement of its president and chief executive officer, Randy Gordon, which will occur following the association’s 125th annual convention in March 2021.
At that time, he will have served nearly 43 years in various executive capacities at NGFA, most recently as the organization’s chief executive staff officer since 2012.
“It has been an honor and inspiration to work nearly my entire professional career at NGFA,” he said. “The noble purpose NGFA’s member companies perform in transforming the American farmer’s bounty into safe, nutritious, sustainable and affordable human and animal food, and the professionalism and integrity with which it does so, is a high calling. I’ve also been blessed to work with a peerless, effective and supportive professional staff to advance this great industry’s goals and policy objectives, which are grounded in competitive, free-market principles.”
NGFA Chairman JoAnn Brouillette, managing partner of Demeter LP, Fowler, Ind, commenting on Gordon’s pending retirement, said: “His leadership, dedication and selfless service were instrumental in NGFA pursuing new programs and services for its members, and in overcoming many challenges that came thereafter. He also has played a key role in the association’s continued growth.”
The NGFA will now begin the process of selecting Gordon’s successor.
ANIZOME LLC, a company focused on the commercial application of microbiome science in animal health by leveraging insights from the role of the microbiome in human healthcare, has announced the appointment of Dr Bénédicte Flambard as the chairperson of its Board of Directors.
Dr Flambard specializes in heading the innovation and development of commercial strategies within the animal and human healthcare sectors. She is currently global head of plant health business at chemical manufacturing company, FMC Corporation.
She has previously served as a global head of live biotherapeutics and nutraceuticals at Boehringer Ingelheim, where she led the creation of a new business unit, combining novel microbial based bio-therapeutic and diagnostic approaches.
She has also worked for Merial and Chr. Hansen.
Dr Flambard holds several vice president positions in the health and agriculture industries, as well as trustee positions and advisory roles for organizations in the consumer goods, pharmaceuticals and technology sectors. While growing core businesses, she has experience of seeding and developing growth opportunities into start-up businesses, focusing exclusively on the microbiome.
She has a Master of Administration from the University of Bath in the UK, a PhD in Molecular Genetics and Microbial Physiology from the National Institute of Agronomic in France, and a Master in Corporate Entrepreneurial Leadership from the Centre for Technology, Economics and Management in Denmark.
Louis Dreyfus Company Holdings BV (LDCH) announced recently that Ian McIntosh has decided to retire in September 2020, and that Michael Gelchie [pictured] will replace him as chief executive officer, effective October 1, 2020.
“I want to thank Ian for his leadership and strategic vision during the last two years, during which he has steered LDC collectively in the right direction and been a great ambassador of the company, and I wish him all the best for the future,” said Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, chairperson of the supervisory board of LDCH.
“I also want to welcome Mike to his new position, with whom we are appointing a strong operational leader, with extensive knowledge of trading and inclusive management skills,” she added. “Under his operational leadership as COO, LDC has worked effectively through COVID-19 to continue to deliver safely for customers and consumers globally and achieved a much-improved performance in the first half of the year. I am confident that Mike will successfully lead LDC through its strategic transformation and innovation, to further improvements in business performance.”
A US national, Gelchie began his career within the Group in 1990, working in senior trading and management positions in its sugar, rice and cocoa businesses, and assisting in the startup of Louis Dreyfus Investment Group in 2008, where he was a senior portfolio manager.
He left the Group in 2010 to pursue other opportunities, returning subsequently to LDC as head of the coffee platform, before his appointment as COO in 2019.
The Lallemand Animal Nutrition Centers of Excellence's teams have been bolstered with new talent added focused on the ruminant, forage and monogastric fields.
Emmanuelle Apper, manager of the Centers of Excellence, said: “With this team, we expect to reinforce expertise in our various fields of investigation and to bring value by providing high-quality science and communicating our work both internally and externally. We also expect to accelerate our innovation processes.”
Ana Rodiles, has joined the Monogastric Center of Excellence as a senior scientist. In this position, the company said she will lead bioinformatics analysis trials on pets, fish, shrimp, and equine, and will actively participate with research and development in these fields. In addition, she will ensure scientific intelligence in the field of bioinformatics to develop and test new models and will train both research and marketing teams.
She holds a master’s degree in aquaculture and a doctorate in fish nutrition from the University of Cadiz (UCA, Spain). She conducted a postdoctoral research on fish gut microbiota at the University of Plymouth (PU, UK), enabling implementation of bioinformatics analysis. During her scientific carrier, Ana worked with massive data analysis of the microbiome of more than 15 animal species and published 35 peer-reviewed papers. She jumped into applied sciences in farming animals working as a gut microbiota researcher for a Dutch company for two years before joining Lallemand.
Laurie Guillot [pictured] joined the Ruminant Center of Excellence based at UMR MEDIS, INRAE Rhône Alpes Auvergne-University of Clermont Auvergne as a research project leader. She will lead some research projects applying molecular biology based approaches — OMICS — to document the mode of action of Lallemand Animal Nutrition products and will develop new methods and models, said the company.
She holds a master’s degree in microbiology and has worked for four years as an engineer at INRAE where she researched the human gut microbiota. She has strong experience in anaerobic microbiology, molecular biology methods and the use of animal models like gnotobiotic rodents, reported Lallemand.
Richard Scuderi has joined the Forage Center of Excellence in Chazy, New York in the US. He will lead some innovative research projects applying OMICS technologies to characterize Lallemand Animal Nutrition bacteria strains and investigate the application of forage inoculants during ensiling and their subsequent animal performance during feedout, said the company.
He holds a master’s degree in animal science from the University of Vermont. Prior to joining Lallemand Animal Nutrition, he acted as the director of dairy nutrition and quality assurance for Mercer Milling Company in Liverpool, NY, for two years. He has also conducted research at the University of Vermont’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Department, Burlington, Vermont.
After five years as a key account manager for ForFarmers’ broiler range, Mark Brightmore is moving into a brand-new role as ForFarmers’ business support specialist, offering expert on-farm support to broiler producers, said the group.
This new role has evolved from a recognized need to provide hands-on, on farm support, not only to help broiler customers improve performance but also, to provide a vital link between the customer, account management and the technical development teams at ForFarmers, said the the feed producer.
In this position, Brightmore will be providing additional support and expert guidance to ensure broiler producers are maximizing on the support services offered by ForFarmers and in turn, generating healthier returns from the market leading Apollo broiler feeding range, added the company.
Brightmore has worked in a customer facing role for ForFarmers since 2015 and has worked across poultry of all types. “He is a font of knowledge when it comes to supporting and advising his customers on how to provide the right environment, and management to optimize bird health and performance, and of course, nutrition.”
Having worked closely with the technical team at ForFarmers, he was central to the development and launch of the new and enormously successful Apollo range. "This range complements the nutritional needs of the modern broiler and has shifted performance to deliver numerous 400+ EPEF results."
As a business support specialist, the company said Brightmore will be an integral link providing invaluable feedback throughout the ForFarmers’ account management, nutrition and technical teams to continually improve the diets and health of broilers as the genetics of the broiler birds moves on.
Brightmore will be involved in rolling out innovative new technology - his customers are trialing a new performance app that ForFarmers is developing. ForFarmers said the aim of the app is to provide daily feedback and real-time tracking whilst monitoring performance against breed standards. The app will also report any issues as they arise which will enable him to pinpoint any support requirements.
Chr. Hansen Holding has appointed Lise Skaarup Mortensen as new Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
The company described her as an experienced international leader with a strong track-record and a passion for leadership. She joins Chr. Hansen from a position as CFO at Microsoft Germany
Prior to joining Microsoft, she held senior level positions within the fields of finance and strategy at IBM, AP Moller-Maersk and BG Bank.
Commenting on the appointment, CEO Mauricio Graber says: “I am very pleased that we have found in Lise the right CFO for Chr. Hansen. Lise has very relevant international experience, high performance aspirations and a great leadership track record. Coming from the software and digital services industry, Lise will be well-positioned to help Chr. Hansen and our teams further develop our digital, data analytics and productivity agenda.”
“Chr. Hansen has a great reputation and I feel honored to join such a respected Danish company. Becoming part of a team that enables compelling business opportunities grounded in the relevance of natural ingredients in today’s world – and with strong focus on sustainability – is a privilege. I look forward to getting to know my new colleagues and contribute to the future growth journey of Chr. Hansen,” added Lise Skaarup Mortensen.
Skaarup Mortensen is a Danish national, currently living in Munich. She will relocate back to Denmark to take up this position. She holds a master’s degree in Business Administration and Economics from the University of Aarhus, Denmark.
