Jolanda van Haarlem has been appointed group director specialties and global strategy director at Agrifirm, a Dutch agricultural cooperative, active worldwide in the production and supply of products and services for animal feed and the cultivation and protection of crops.
Her career in the agri-industry spans 25 years, to date. In 2009, she joined Provimi/Cargill as the director of product group dairy, where she spent over a decade serving in various roles. She then took on the role of CEO at Hendrix Genetics in 2021. However, following a significant restructuring and a change of ownership, she made the decision to leave Hendrix in the second half of 2022.
Dick Hordijk, CEO of Agrifirm, said van Haarlem will play a crucial role in implementing and further developing the company's global strategy.
ADM’s board of directors has nominated Dr Ellen de Brabander, executive VP for innovation and regulatory affairs, Elanco, to stand for election to the board.
The election taked place at ADM’s annual stockholders’ meeting on May 4.
ADM chairman and CEO, Juan Luciano, said: “Ellen brings a broad scientific background and deep R&D and innovation experience in human nutrition, life sciences and animal health – which align well with many of the growth opportunities ADM is pursuing.”
In her current role at Elanco, de Brabander drives early and late-stage pipeline execution across pet health and farm animals, including nutritional health solutions. She previously served as senior vice president for R&D at PepsiCo, with company-wide responsibility for food safety, quality, regulatory, and digital transformation in R&D, and before that, for all product innovations for the nutrition category.
De Brabander has also held executive leadership positions in companies such as Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck Animal Health, and DSM.
ADM also announced that lead director, Donald Felsinger, will retire from the board of directors, having reached the retirement age of 75, while Francisco Sanchez, a member of the board since 2014, has also decided not to stand for re-election.
Keith Drynan has been named managing director of AquaGen Scotland. He will take up that role next month.
Norway based AquaGen is a research-oriented breeding company that develops, manufactures, and delivers genetic starter material and fertilized eggs to the global aquaculture industry.
Drynan has decades of experience in the aquaculture industry in Scotland and abroad, noted AquaGen. Prior to joining AquaGen he held several senior leadership positions in the industry, including at feed manufacturer, BioMar.
In this role, he will be responsible for all commercial activities of AquaGen in Scotland as well as overseeing the day-to-day operations of the facility.
“We have been through an extensive process to find the right leader of our business in Scotland. AquaGen is committed to supply the global market with high quality genetics in the form of fertile salmon eggs. Scotland is a key market for AquaGen, and we are thrilled to have Keith on board. His extensive industry experience will be an asset to the Scottish industry and to our company," said AquaGen’s CEO Knut Røflo.
Gabriela Cardoso Dal Pont has joined the poultry team at Novus International to support customers in the Americas.
She will be responsible for driving the company’s business strategy in the region, overseeing the development, launch and success of new products, applications, and research trials, and working with the sales and technical teams to empower customers with knowledge and best practices beyond the solutions Novus offers.
Prior to joining Novus, Cardoso founded Academia da Avicultura, which is a digital school providing poultry education and training. The Brazilian organization provides marketing services for the industry as well.
Cardoso is also a member of the Poultry Science Association and served as student director on the board from 2020-2022. She has veterinary degree from the Federal University of Paraná, Brazil.
Maryland-based agribusiness, Perdue Farms, has made Catherine Muldoon its new chief compliance officer.
In this role, she will manage and oversee all aspects of how Perdue Farms’ businesses and brands comply with all federal, state, and local rules and regulations, and other external regulatory requirements, as well as internal policies. Muldoon will establish, implement, and administer a compliance structure to strengthen the company’s existing compliance efforts.
“We’re pleased to have someone with Catherine’s depth of experience to help bolster our current compliance practices,” said Herb Frerichs, general counsel, and corporate secretary for Perdue Farms. “The animal protein industry and broader agricultural sectors are becoming increasingly complex. Creating a centralized structure to oversee our companywide compliance program will ensure that we are not just complying with laws and regulations but exceeding them, while living up to our culture of trust and integrity and doing the right thing.”
Prior to this role, Muldoon served as long-time chief legal officer at BDP International, a global logistics transportation firm, where she created a comprehensive code of conduct and business ethics program. Most recently, she served as general counsel for Baldor Specialty Foods Inc, a US food procurement and distribution company.
She holds a Bachelor of Art’s degree in international relations from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, a juris doctor from the School of Law at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, and an executive MA in business administration from the Lebow College of Business at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
Animal nutrition producer, Devenish, says it has bolstered its business operations in Europe with the appointment of Maria Pons as country manager for Spain.
Supported by the wider Devenish team including technical and product specialists, Pons will be responsible for growing the business and managing key accounts in Spain.
She holds a MA in International Animal Nutrition from the University of Zaragoza, and is a specialist in pig, poultry, and ruminant nutrition, with experience in formulating diets for pigs, and in-depth knowledge in the operation of performance farms and data analytics, noted the Northern Ireland based supplier.
Ian Atterbury, MD, Devenish Nutrition International, said: “Spain is the leading pig producer in Europe, making up a quarter of the European herd. It is a key focus area for us, and I am very pleased to welcome Maria to the team. With her experience in both monogastric and ruminant nutrition, she is well placed to support our existing customers and help to grow and strengthen our business in the region.”
