Dan Amstutz is president and CEO of the North American Export Grain Association, the association of U.S. grain and oilseed exporters. Previously, he served as executive director of the International Wheat Council, London, now called the International Grains Council.

He was part of the Reagan Administration for 6 years. First, as under secretary of agriculture for international affairs and commodity programs (1983-1987), and then as ambassador and chief negotiator for agriculture in the GATT Uruguay Round trade negotiations. He played a key role in helping achieve more trade liberalization for agriculture than in all preceding multilateral trade rounds.

Before joining government, Amstutz was a general partner of Goldman, Sachs and Company, the New York investment bank, where he initiated the firm’s commodities trading and futures brokerage businesses.

For 25 years before that, he was with Cargill in a number of management and grain merchandizing roles. These included the cadre that began Cargill’s European operations; senior merchant for wheat merchandising and manager of coarse grain merchandising at Cargill’s Minneapolis headquarters; and the creation of Cargill Investor Services, where he served as president and CEO.

He is an advisor to the U.S. government as a member of the Agriculture Policy Advisory Committee and a member of the Agribusiness Committee of the U.S./Russia Commission.

Amstutz is a graduate of Ohio State University and is director of the Ohio State University Foundation.

He has been a frequent speaker, and has written extensively, on markets, marketing, and trade throughout his 45-year career.

Dennis Avery

Dennis T. Avery is a Senior Fellow at Hudson and is Director of the Center for Global Food Issues. A food policy analyst for the past 30 years, Dennis began his career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, served on the staff of President Lyndon Johnson's National Advisory Commission of Food and Fiber, and, prior to joining Hudson, was the senior agricultural analyst for the U.S. Department of State.

His analyses of the foreign policy implications of global trends and events in food and agriculture at the U.S. Department of State won him the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement in 1983.

Dennis is an outspoken advocate of free trade in farm products, and of the environmental importance of well-managed, high-yield-farming. Dennis has testified numerous times to both Senate and House Congressional committees on agricultural and conservation issues and has presented papers at the annual meeting of the American Association of the Advancement of Science, and many other forums.

Avery is the author of two books, Global Food Progress and Saving the Planet With Pesticides and Plastic: The Environmental Triumph of High-Yield Farming. Avery also writes a weekly, syndicated column for Bridge News and has been published in numerous newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals, including: The Wall Street Journal, Washington Times, Des Moines Register, Science, Readers Digest, Feedstuffs, and Farm Journal.

James Baker is the administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyard Administration (GIPSA). As administrator, he oversees the USDA agency charged with facilitating the
marketing of livestock, poultry, meat, cereals, oilseeds, and related  agricultural products, and promoting fair and competitive trading practices for the overall benefit of consumers and American agriculture. Specifically, Mr. Baker administers the Federal Grain Inspection Service, a program which provides services and oversight that facilitate the marketing of grain, rice, oilseeds, pulses, and related commodities; and the Packers and Stockyards Programs, which carry out regulatory programs that promote fair business practices and a competitive marketing environment for livestock, meat, and poultry.

From 1983 until joining GIPSA in November 1994, Mr. Baker was the manager of Lewis Livestock Company in Conway, Arkansas, the largest auction in the Southeastern United States. In addition, in 1989, Mr. Baker served as chairman of the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission.

Mr. Baker has a distinguished record of service to agriculture and his community. He served on the board of directors of the Faulkner County Farm Bureau from 1973 until 1995 and was president in 1986; was a State board member of the Arkansas Farm Bureau from 1989 through 1994 and was a national voting delegate in 1981 and 1986; was a member of the Faulkner County Extension Advisory Board for 20 years; has been a Charter Board Member of the Faulkner County 4-H Foundation Board since 1985, and served as president in 1979 and 1980; and is an advisor to the Future Farmers of America.

His service and dedication to agriculture have been widely recognized. Mr. Baker is the recipient of two Silver Awards and one Gold Award from the Arkansas Production Credit Association; a Four-State Proclamation for service to agriculture; and an Agriculture Alumni Award from Southern State College. In 1997, Mr. Baker was appointed to the Department of Agriculture's Hispanic Advisory Council.

Mr. Baker, a native of Glenwood, Arkansas, received a degree in agribusiness from Southern State College in Magnolia, Arkansas. He is married to the former Linda Nelson and has two children, Monica and Jason.

Terry Barr is the chief economist for the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) and Vice President of the Cooperative Business Center in NCFC. The NCFC is a nationwide association of farmer cooperative businesses headquartered in Washington, DC.

Prior to joining NCFC in 1985, Terry held several positions during his 14 years at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He was chairman of the World Agricultural Outlook Board, which coordinates forecasts for USDA. He also was director of the Economics Analysis State in the Office of the Secretary, which prepared economic analyses and assessments of alternative farm policy options and decisions.

Terry has addressed audiences in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Latin America, and Europe on a range of topics. His speeches and articles emphasize the interrelationships in the outlook for U.S. and global economies and the implications for U.S. agriculture and the food and agribusiness system. Additional emphasis is also placed on the factors shaping the rapid structural transformation of the U.S. and global food, fiber, and agriculture business systems.

Terry was born in the state of Washington and holds a doctorate in economics from Washington State University. He resides with his wife and two sons in Maryland.

Richard E. Bell is president and chief executive officer of Riceland Foods, Inc., headquartered at Stuttgart, Arkansas.

Riceland is a farmer-owned cooperative which markets rice, soybeans, and other crops grown by its 8,000 members. It is the nation's largest rice company, one of the nation's ten largest grain companies, and a major soybean processor in the South.

Before joining Riceland in 1977, Mr. Bell served as assistant secretary of agriculture for international affairs and commodity programs in Washington.

Mr. Bell is a native of Illinois and holds B.S. (honors) and M.S. degree in AgriculturaI Economics from the University of Illinois.

In addition to his duties at Riceland, Mr. Bell Serves on the board of trustees of Arkansas State University. He is a member of the Chicago Board of Trade. He recently completed two terms as a director on the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Marion Long-Bowlan lives and farms in Manheim, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She works with the Harrisburg-based Pennsylvania Farm Link, a network for small farms. She also is a member of the USDA Advisory Committee on Small Farms and the National Commission on Small Farms.

Frank Beurskens is Director, Product Strategy for E-Markets, responsible for identification and design of new e-commerce solutions for agriculture. Frank Beurskens began his agriculture career managing a large Midwestern grain cooperative in the early 1970's. In 1980 he cofounded one of the largest private agricultural futures and grain brokerage businesses. Frank served as CEO until launching an independent consulting practice in 1995. He provided consulting domestically and internationally for corporate, academic and industry groups including international projects for development of commodity exchanges in Romania, Russia and Ukraine. In 1995 Frank also founded and maintained an award winning internet web site AgriBiz.com providing grain market information for the global marketplace.AgriBiz was purchased by E-Markets in 1999. Frank also presents professionally throughout the world on issues related to agriculture including e-commerce, risk management, strategy and vision.

Frank joined E-Markets in February 2000 following a year serving as a consultant to the firm.

Barry L. Carpenter is Deputy Administrator of the Livestock and Seed Program, Agricultural Marketing Service. The Livestock and Seed Program is responsible for reporting livestock and grain market news; developing standards for meat, cattle, swine, and wool; meat grading and certification; purchasing red meats and fish for the Federal feeding programs; monitoring the research and promotion activities for the American Sheep Industry Association, Mohair Council of America, Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, National Pork Board, and the United Soybean Board; and enforcing the Federal Seed Act. He has represented the United States on the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Committee on Agriculture since 1990 and has chaired the meetings of Experts on Standardization of Meat since 1994.

Almost his entire career has been with the Department of Agriculture in the Livestock and Seed Program. He started as a meat grader in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 1970. He has served in a number of field offices--including being Western Area Supervisor--and transferred to Washington, D.C., as Assistant Chief of the Meat Grading and Certification Branch. He also served as Chief of the Dairy Grading and Standardization Branch for 1½ years. He was named Deputy Director in 1989 and was promoted to Deputy Administrator of the Livestock and Seed Program on November 14, 1993.

In 1999, President Clinton presented Barry with the Presidential Rank Award--Meritorious Executive and in February 2000 he received the National Meat Association’s prestigious E. Floyd Forbes Award for his contributions to the livestock and meat industry.

Barry is a graduate of the University of Florida where he received a degree in animal science.

Barry is married and has four grown children and five grandchildren. He resides in Orlean, Virginia.

Peter Carstensen

Peter C. Carstensen is the Young-Bascom Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development at the University of Wisconsin Law School. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Wisconsin and received his law degree and a masters degree in economics from Yale University. From 1968 to 1973, he was a trial attorney at the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice where one of his primary areas of work was on questions of relating competition policy and law to regulated industries. He has been a member of the faculty of the UW Law School since 1973.

His scholarship and teaching have focused on antitrust law. He has published a number of articles in the field including several discussing aspects of the relationship of antitrust law and regulation. He is the author of a detailed study of the famous Chicago Board of Trade case that concerned price fixing restraints in grain trading: The Contents of the Hollow Core of Antitrust: The Chicago Board of Trade Case and the Meaning of the "Rule of Reason" in Restraint of Trade Analysis, 15 Res. in Law and Econ. 1 (1992). His article, Concentration and the Destruction of Competition in Agricultural Markets – The Case for Change in Public Policy, will appear in the Wisconsin Law Review this summer.

He has served as an expert witness before the Wisconsin Public Service Commission on competition issues in telecommunications and currently serves on a Commission committee reviewing the state of competition in telecommunications. He has also been an invited witness at Congressional hearings, most recently before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, and has served as a consultant to both public and private parties concerning antitrust and competition questions. In September 1999, he participated in the Town Meeting in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, sponsored by Senators Grassley, Harkin and Wellstone concerning the competition policy issues in agriculture.

Jon Caspers of Swaledale, Iowa, is co-owner and general manager of Pleasant Valley Pork Corp., a farrow-to-finish operation that markets 20,000 hogs annually.

He is serving his second term on the NPPC Board of Directors Caspers serves on the National Swine Center Oversight Committee, the Price Discovery Task Force, and the Trade, Swine Health, and Pork Safety Committees.

Since 1993, Caspers has represented the pork industry on the U.S. Meat Export Federation’s Board of Directors He also serves on the Executive Committee of the Livestock Conservation Institute (LCI) and serves as the second vice chairman. An active member of the Iowa Pork Producers Association, Caspers served as state president in 1990.

Caspers earned an associate degree in animal Science from Ellsworth Community College in Iowa Falls.

DIRECTOR, Office of Policy/Litigation Support, Packers and Stockyards Program (1998-present); U.S. AGRIBUSINESS ADVISOR to South Africa (1996-1998); SENIOR ADVISOR for Business, Trade and Investment in Africa at the Foreign Agricultural Service (1994-1996) and at the State Department (1988-1994); DIRECTOR, Industry Analysis Staff , Packers and Stockyards Administration (1986-1988); ADMINISTRATOR and Founding Member of the National Endowment for Soil and Water Conservation (1981-1986); CONSULTANT to the House Subcommittee on Conversation, Credit and Rural Development (1981-1982); CHIEF ECONOMIST for the National Agricultural Lands Study (1980-1981); DIRECTOR, Office of Policy Review at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (1976-1980); FULBRIGHT PROFESSOR at the University of Sri Lanka (1974-1976); AGRICULTURAL ECONOMIST at the Treasury Department and the Cost of Living Council (1973-1974); INSTRUCTOR at the University of Maryland’s University College and at Prince George’s Community College (1972 to 1973); RESEARCH ASSISTANT at the University of Maryland (1969-1973); CONSULTANT to the Minister of Economic Development in Guyana (1970); ARTILLERY OFFICER U.S. Army 199^th Light Infantry Brigade in South Viet Nam and with the 6^th Armored Cavalry Regiment At Fort Meade, MD (1966-1969).

Mr. Collins is responsible for the Office of the Chief Economist, the World Agricultural Outlook Board, and the Office of Risk Assessment and Cost Benefit Analysis. Keith was formerly Acting Assistant Secretary for Economics which included responsibility for the Economic Research Service and the National Agricultural Statistics Service. As Acting Chief Economist, Mr. Collins is responsible for the Department's agricultural projections and forecasts and advises the Secretary on economic implications of alternative programs, regulations, and legislative proposals. Mr. Collins, a member of the Senior Executive Service, received the Presidential Rank Awards in 1990 and 1992.

Mr. Collins, a native of Connecticut, holds degrees from Villanova University and the University of Connecticut and a Ph.D. in economics and statistics from North Carolina State University. He has been employed by USDA for 19 years.

Leon Crump

Leon Crump was born the son of a Baptist Minister/sharecropper and his wife in Chesterfield County, SC on July 11 1947. He is the youngest of three brothers and has four sisters. He was educated In the Cheraw public schools.

After serving with the US Marine Corps in Vietnam (1968-69) he graduated from Lyons College In 1970 with a degree in Mechanical and Architectural Graphics. He worked in this field for a number of years in Philadelphia, PA before returning to South Carolina. He also served seven years on the Philadelphia Police force. 

Since returning to South Carolina he has worked for The Rural Advancement Fund (1980-1984) and the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund (1985 to present). In both of these positions he has worked with farmers and landowners in the areas of economic development and social Justice.

Leon has been instrumental in the planning and execution of three preliminary Farm-Aid fund raisers in the Pee Dee area of SC. These fundraisers generally had a talent show format with judges being selected from the community. He has traveled extensively across the United States, to Europe, Africa and South America. He conducts a weekly farm news segment, "The Friday Farm Report", on WBTW TV-13 Florence, SC. This show is broadcast to an audience of over one half million people.

Leon currently serves as state director for FSC/LAF in SC. In that capacity he is responsible for implementation of a USDA Small Farmers Training and Technical Assistance Project in 10 counties in the SC low country and Pee Dee areas. He serves on the USDA National Outreach Committee and The South Carolina Outreach Council of USDA. His career reflects the community mindedness which over the years has been demonstrated repeatedly in the Pee Dee and other areas of SC. He also operates a small vegetable farm in Florence, South Carolina and has started experiments with organics, hydroponics, and aquaculture.

Elected to Nebraska Legislature: 1986; re-elected 1990, 1994 and 1998  Serves on Agriculture (chair); Business and Labor; Revenue; Committee on Committees

Born July 2, 1932.  Graduate of Ewing High School, 1950; University of Nebraska, 1954; Kansas State University (doctor of veterinary medicine), 1961.  Married Gloria L. Zoeller; four children: Jon Martin, Thomas Lyle, Christopher Joseph and Mary Stephanie.
Occupation: Veterinarian and rancher.
Military service: U.S. Air Force, 1954-56.
Member: Knights of Columbus; American Legion.
Former: Member, Ewing Public School Board of Education. Past president, Nebraska Veterinary Medical Association.

Otto C. Doering is Professor of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University. His work focuses on economic policy issues affecting agriculture and natural resources. He has teaching, research and adult education responsibilities.

He has served as: principal advisor to the Natural Resources Conservation Service for implementing the 1996 Farm Act (1997), Visiting Scholar with the Economic Research Service, USDA, analyzing environmental issues in the 1990 farm bill (1990), and Visiting Policy Analyst at USDA, working on the 1977 farm bill. He received the American Agricultural Economics Association's Distinguished Policy Contribution Award for this work and received it again in 1990 for his contribution as founding director of Indiana's State Utility Forecasting Group. He has been a visiting professor at North Carolina A&T State University (1996), at Cornell University (1990), and a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley (1981). Doering has served as a director of the American Agricultural Economics Association and as Chairman of the National Public Policy Education Committee. He has been a consultant to the National Academy of Sciences, the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, and the World Bank. He is a National Science Foundation evaluator for the Industry/University Cooperative Research Program. He has 4 years of experience in Southeast Asia with the Ford Foundation, the University of Malaya, the College of Agriculture Malaya, and the Muda Agricultural Development Authority He has also worked as a horse wrangler and as a legal investigator.

He has a B.A. degree in Government from Cornell University, an M.Sc.(Econ.) From the London School of Economics, and a Ph.D. degree in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University.

Michael Dunn is Under Secretary of Agriculture for Marketing and Regulatory Programs. He manages the three USDA agencies responsible for many aspects of the marketing, protection, quality and transportation of the nation's food, feed and fiber supply. Those agencies are the Agricultural Marketing Service, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration.

Dunn was named Under Secretary in November 1998. Prior to that he served as Assistant Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs. Other positions Dunn has served in at USDA included Acting Under Secretary for Rural Economic and Community Development and as Administrator of the Farmers Home Administration. 

Agricultural concentration, transportation and fair enforcement of regulatory programs have been identified as priorities by Dunn. He also intends to aggressively pursue marketing and trade opportunities.

"New trade opportunities are opening up every day," said Dunn. "In this new global environment, I intend to work with American producers to seize these opportunities and expand agriculture's contribution to the U.S. economy. At the same time, I intend to strengthen our efforts to protect our fields and forests from devastating nonindigenous species.

Before joining USDA in November 1993, Dunn was vice president of the National Farmers Union, in charge of its Washington operations. Prior to that, he worked for Senator Patrick Leahy on the Senate Agriculture Committee. He is a former commissioner of the Iowa Development Commission and was executive director of a regional planning and economic development district. He also served as a city official in his hometown of Keokuk, Iowa, and as Midwest director for USDA's Farmers Home Administration from 1977 to 1981.

Dr. William Heffernan

Stephen Holland born in Tupelo on November 5, 1955, and is a lifelong Lee County resident with wide-ranging interests in community and church affairs, state and regional politics, business and agriculture. He has been a member of the Mississippi House since 1984, representing the people in House District 16 of Lee County.

He has a reputation among House colleagues of being an effective, hard-working legislator. He has been especially active in legislation to promote agriculture, build highways, improve public education, strengthen the community colleges, upgrade mental health programs, and boost economic growth. He is serving his fifth term as Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee and is Co-chairman of the Mississippi Agribusiness Council. He also serves on the Appropriations Committee, where he chairs the Subcommittees on Higher Education and Medicaid; Judiciary "A" Committee; Public Health and Welfare Committee; and Rules Committee. He is a member of the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee of the Southern Legislative Conference, has served On a number of special study committees. He authored and helped pass a bill which built the North Mississippi State Hospital in Tupelo, subsequently named after him by the State Department of Mental Health.

Steve has received numerous awards for his work on behalf of conservation programs, disabled citizens, and others. These include the Golden Torch Award by the Mississippi Council on Aging and the Spirit of Inspiration Award torn the Mississippi Health Care Association. He has received several awards for leadership on behalf of conservation programs around the state, was a recipient of the Farm Bureau's annual "Friend of Agriculture Award" in 1993, and the Future Farmers of America Honorary State and American Farmer Award.

He is a graduate of Mississippi State University and has an Associate of Arts in Mortuary Science from Northwest Mississippi Junior College. He also has done graduate work at George Washington University in Washington. He is general manager of Lee Memorial Funeral Home in Lee County and Okolona Funeral Home in Okolona, associated with five memorial gardens, and is a partner in Holland Brothers Farms in Lee and Monroe counties.

Holland served for nearly three years as an aide to Congressman Jamie Whitten in Washington, and worked as political director on Senator Thad Cochran's staff, based in Jackson, for more than a year.

He is a member of the Mississippi Democratic Party, Mississippi Historical Society, and Mississippi State Alumni Association. He is a 32nd Degree Mason and Shriner and a member of the Civitan Club and several local, state and national boards. He is a member of the First United Methodist Church in Tupelo where he serves on the administrative board, and is organist at the Plantersville Methodist Church. Steve is married to the former Gloria Temple and they have three children.

Jay Johnson

Jay Johnson is Supervisor of the Des Moines regional office, Packers and Stockyards Programs, Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration. He opened this office as the Agency restructured in July 1998.

Jay began his career with the Packers and Stockyards in 1983 in the Agency's South St. Paul, Minnesota regional office. He transferred to Washington, D. C. in 1985 into the Packer and Poultry Division where he has had various responsibilities and titles including Acting Director, for the 18 month period proceeding his most recent appointment.

He is a native of Illinois where he graduated with honors from Western Illinois University with a degree in Agriculture Business.

Robert D Josserand was born in Pratt, Kansas, on June 24, 1931. He graduated from Colorado State University in 1953 with a Bachelor's Degree in Animal Science. He served as President of Pro Cattle Company from September, 1973 to December, 1979, when the company was acquired by AZL Resources, Inc. From 1980 to 1983 he was President of and managed the AZL Cattle Group, consisting at various times of as many as five cattle feed lots in Texas, Nebraska and Arizona, with combined one-time capacity of approximately 200,000 head. That Group was acquired by AzTx Cattle Co. in 1983. Mr. Josserand is now Chairman of the Board and owner of AzTx Cattle Co., which owns five cattle feed lots in Texas, Colorado, and Kansas, with a combined one-time capacity of approximately 200,000 head.

Mr. Josserand has been active in industry organizations, serving on the boards of directors of the National Live Stock and Meat Board in Chicago and the Beef Industry Council of that Board, the Texas Cattle Feeders Association and the National Cattlemen's Association. He is a past president of Texas Cattle Feeders Association (1985) and National Cattlemen's Association (1939), and is a past member of the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board and the Operating Committee of that Board.

Mr. Josserand was named "Man of the Year in Service to Southwest Agriculture" by Progressive Farmer Magazine in 1991. In February, 1993, he was inducted into the International Stockmen's Hall of Fame by the International Livestock Congress. In September, 1998, Josserand received tile National Golden Spur Award sponsored by the Ranching Heritage Association.

Josserand has been a resident of Hereford, Texas, since 1971 and has served as Mayor of the City since his first election on May l, 1993. He was named Hereford's "1994 Citizen of tile Year." Mr. Josserand and his wife, Nancy, have three children and eight grandchildren.

Secretary of Agriculture Patty Judge is a life-long resident of Southern Iowa. For the past thirty years, she and her husband, John, have lived on the family cow-calf farm in Monroe County. The Judges have three grown children and a granddaughter, Catie.

Patty graduated from Albia High School and the Iowa Methodist School of Nursing. She attended the University of Iowa and worked at the University Hospital until her marriage in 1969. Following completion of her husband's military service, Patty and John moved back to the family farm near Albia.

Patty has a strong background in production agriculture, personnel management, and rural finance. In addition to her hands-on involvement in the family farm, she developed and implemented the first in-service education program and the first utilization review program for the Monroe County Hospital

Patty's interest in rural economic development prompted her to earn a real estate license and set up a small business specializing in rural property, including the selling and appraising of farms. During the Farm Crisis of the mid-1980's, she worked as a mediator for the Iowa Farmer Creditor Mediation Service.

Throughout her life Patty has been dedicated to community service, serving on the Albia Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, as well as a 4-H leader. She is also a member of PEO and is an honorary FFA Chapter Farmer.

Patty was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 1992. During her career in the Senate, she served as the Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and as Assistant Leader of the Iowa Senate.

In 1998, Patty was elected as Secretary of Agriculture. She is the first woman to serve in this position. Secretary Judge is committed to adding value to Iowa products, protecting our water, and ensuring the food consumed by Iowans is safe.

Kathleen Sullivan Kelley is a fourth generation Colorado rancher and farmer whose life has been profoundly shaped by her agricultural heritage.  She and her husband Reed currently own and manage a commercial cow, grain, and hay operation in northwestern Colorado near Meeker.

In 1980, Kelley at the age of 26 was the youngest woman ever elected to the Colorado legislature. She was defeated by 13 votes in her re-election bid and will be one of the first to argue, your vote counts!

In 1986, Kelley became the first native westerner to serve as a Fellow at Harvard Universities Institute of Politics (IOP) in the John F. Kennedy School of Government. Her nine week study group, The American Farm Crisis, was acclaimed by former Harvard IOP Director Jonathan Moore, as "one of the most successful in the history of the IOP."

Kelley has served as an agricultural consultant to the former Committee on East West Relations and the International Leadership Institute. She is a founding member of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers Standing Committee on Women in Agriculture, serving as a representative of the National Farmers Union.

Kelley was the first woman elected to serve as Vice President of the Sky Mountain Farmers Union and recently retired from her fifth term. She was appointed by Secretary Glickman to serve as a co-vice Chair on the National Commission on Small Farms and would like to see substantive portions of the commission report, A Time To Act, implemented.

In 1998, she along with Herman Schumacher, a co-chair of USDA's Advisory Group on Market Concentration, Jack McNamee an Angus breeder from Montana, and Leo McDonnell Jr., owner of the Midland Bull Test, formed the Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, commonly known as R-CALF, to address growing trade problems with Canada and Mexico. Today, R-CALF is one of the fastest growing agricultural groups in the nation with over 10,000 dues paying members in 30 states The group focuses on domestic and international cattle marketing issues in both trade and anti-trust. Kelley serves as its Vice President.

Kelley has worked as a free lance writer for numerous general and agricultural news publications, occasionally teaches public speaking and English at the college level, and has been a featured speaker at numerous forums around the world on the crisis in agriculture.

Kelley currently serves on the board of the Center of the American West at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and also serves on the Agricultural Advisory Board at Colorado State University, Fort Collins.

Charles E. Kruse was elected to the position of president of Missouri Farm Bureau in 1992, an organization of more than 91,000 member families. As president of Missouri Farm Bureau, Kruse also serves as president of the Federation's five affiliated companies. Kruse also serves as a member of the American Farm Bureau Board of Directors, representing 12 midwestern state Farm Bureaus.

A native of Stoddard County in Southeast Missouri, Kruse received his Masters of Science in Agronomy in 1973 from the University of Missouri, Columbia. He is also a 1967 graduate of Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, Arkansas, majoring in agronomy.

From 1975 to 1983, Kruse was a technical representative for an agricultural chemical company, and in 1983 he was appointed by Governor Christopher "Kit" Bond to serve on the University of Missouri Board of Curators. In 1985, Governor John Ashcroft appointed Kruse as director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture. Governor Ashcroft also appointed Kruse to Missouri’s Coordinating Board for Higher Education.

In 1991, Kruse accepted the position of executive vice president of the North American Equipment Dealers Association, resigning in August of 1992 to seek the presidency of Missouri Farm Bureau.

In 1994, Kruse was honored by the University of Missouri with both the Faculty/Alumni Award and the College of Agriculture's Alumnus of the Year Award.

He received an appointment to the Commission on 21st Century Production Agriculture in August, 1997. In June, 1999, USDA Secretary Dan Glickman and United States Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky reappointed Kruse to the Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for Trade in Grains, Feed, and Oilseeds. Previous federal appointments include President George Bush’s Council on Rural America and US Trade Representative Carla Hills’ Intergovernmental Advisory Committee.

Mr. Kruse is an Eagle Scout and had a 26-year military career in the Missouri National Guard. He retired from the National Guard in March, 1993, with the rank of Brigadier General.

Kruse and his family raise corn, wheat, soybeans and cotton.

As Science Advisor, Dr. McCammon provides leadership, evaluations, advice, and recommendations on a variety of policy and operational issues that have scientific and technological importance to the agency. She has worked on many administration priorities including biotechnology, Year 2000 readiness, sustainable development, integrated pest management, aquatic nuisance species, aquaculture, biological control, and invasive species.

In biotechnology, she is currently the APHIS representative to the USDA Biotechnology Coordinating Committee and is the USDA’s project contact on biotechnology with the National Academy of Sciences. Internationally, she is the U.S. head of delegation to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) Working Group on Harmonization of Regulatory Oversight in Biotechnology. She is the alternate delegate to the Codex ad hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Biotechnology and will head the U.S. delegation to the newly formed working Group on Phytosanitary Aspects of GMOs and on Invasive Species under the International Plant Protection Convention. She has been involved with international biotechnology regulatory harmonization policy issues for over ten years.

Within APHIS, Dr. McCammon has served as the Domestic Programs Branch Chief and International Coordinator for Biotechnology, Biologics, and Environmental Protection (BBEP). She initially joined APHIS as a biotechnologist responsible for issuing permits for release of genetically engineered organisms into the environment. Prior to joining APHIS, she was a Research Microbiologist for USDA, Agricultural Research Service, working on the genetics of plant pathogenic bacteria. She has also worked at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, The Ohio State University, and she obtained her doctorate in Plant Pathology at the University of Kentucky.

Terry Medley joined DuPont on May 1, 1998, as director of regulatory and external affairs.  Medley's substantial expertise in biotechnology regulatory policy significantly enhances DuPont's role as a world leader in agricultural biotechnology and life sciences.

Before joining DuPont, Mr. Medley was administrator of USDA's  Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. As administrator, Medley led a staff of 6,000 charged with protecting the health of U.S. plant and animal resources. He is recognized internationally for his expertise and has received numerous awards for public service.

Medley has served as chairman and vice chairman of the USDA Biotechnology Council; as a member of the Federal Biotechnology Research Subcommittee; and as a member of the Food and Drug Administration's Food Advisory Committee that reviewed the first genetically engineered crop. In 1989, Medley received the Department of Agriculture's Superior Service Award for his major role in the development and implementation of biotechnology regulatory policy. In addition, he was conferred the rank of Distinguished Executive in the Senior Executive Service by President Clinton in April 1997.

Medley graduated cum laude from Amherst College and received a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the University of Virginia.

Charlie Rawls was sworn in as the general counsel for the U.S. Department of Agriculture by Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman on
August 3, 1998. He had been serving as acting general counsel since February 1998.

Rawls came to USDA in June 1993, serving as executive assistant to Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Richard Rominger. In that position, he provided the deputy secretary and the secretary with support and assistance on a wide variety of policy, management, and administrative matters, including the Department’s annual budget, disaster coordination, international environmental issues, pesticide policy, and personnel matters. He was the principle point of contact in the effort to restructure and reinvent USDA.

Prior to joining USDA, Rawls served as administrative assistant from 1991 to 1993 and legislative director from 1988 to 1990 for then Congressman Martin Lancaster (D-N.C.). His legislative experience also includes five years with the House Committee on Agriculture where he served as the associate general counsel from 1985 to 1988, and earlier as counsel to the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Forests, Family Farms, and Energy from 1983 to 1985.

Rawls was born in Wilmington, N.C., and grew up in Raleigh. He is a member of the North Carolina bar, graduating from Campbell University School of Law in Buies Creek, N.C., in 1982. He also holds a B.A. degree in business management, graduating in 1979 from North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

Greg Page

Greg Page was elected executive vice president of Cargill,  Incorporated in November 1999. Among his other responsibilities, he is a member of the Red Meat Solutions Platform, which includes Excel Corporation. Based in Wichita, KS, Excel is a leading processor of beef and pork, with processing facilities in the United States, Canada, and Australia.

Page joined Cargill in 1974 as a trainee assigned to the Feed Division. Over the next 10 years, he held a number of positions with Feed in Kansas, Texas, California, and Minnesota. In 1985, he transferred to Singapore to work for Cargill Southeast Asia Ltd. Three years later, he was involved in the startup of a poultry processing operation in Saraburi Province, Thailand.

When the Cargill Meat Sector was formed in 1992, Page returned to Minneapolis to work with the beef operations of Cargill's Excel subsidiary. The Meat Sector was reorganized in 1995 to include Cargill's Animal Nutrition and Poultry businesses, and Page began overseeing the Red Meat Group, which includes Cargill's beef and pork interests. In May 1998, he was named corporate vice president and sector president, with responsibilities for the Financial Markets Group and the Red Meat Group.

In addition to being a member of the Red Meat Solutions Platform, he serves in the same capacity for the Risk Management and Financial Solutions Platform.

In November 1999, Page was elected to the chairmanship for I999-2000 of the American Meat Institute (AMI). Page also serves on the AMI board of directors, and for 1998-99 he was vice chairman of the American Meat Institute's Board of Directors.

Page received a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks. He was born in Bottineau, ND, where his father was in the farm machinery business.

Curry A. Roberts is the President of PM Holdings, L.L.C., Richmond, Virginia, where he serves as the Chief Executive Officer for the parent company of PM Beef Group, L.L.C., and PM Global Foods, L.L.C.

PM Beef Group, L.L.C., includes slaughter and fabrication plants in Minnesota and Iowa with the capacity to process 190,000 head of cattle annually. PM Beef also owns PM Specialty Foods of Richmond, Virginia, and Omaha, Nebraska, which markets case ready meats for retail establishments and food service products for restaurants.

PM Global Foods, L.L.C., of Atlanta, Georgia, is a diversified export trading company marketing beef, pork and poultry products to the Pacific Rim, Europe, Mexico, Central and South America. PM Global also maintains offices in Columbia, South Carolina, Foster City, California, Seoul, South Korea, and Mexico City, Mexico.

Prior to becoming President of PM Holdings, L.L.C., Mr. Roberts performed the duties of Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer for J.W.K. Properties, Inc., located in Charlottesville, Virginia. J.W.K. Properties, Inc., is a diversified agricultural and forestry operation of nearly 8,000 acres and approximately 100 full-time employees. J.W.K. Properties, Inc., also has investments in the nut processing and coin-operated laundry industries.

Mr. Roberts served as Cabinet Deputy Secretary and subsequently Secretary of Economic Development for the Commonwealth of Virginia from 1986-1990. In that capacity he was responsible for 15 state agencies and a biennial budget of 1.5 billion dollars. Included in this Secretariat were diverse agencies, such as the Department of Economic Development, Virginia Port Authority, Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the Department of World Trade.

A native of Bedford County, Mr. Roberts graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. He presently serves on the Boards of Directors of the Atlantic Rural Exposition, Inc./State Fair of Virginia, the National Meat Association and Southern States Cooperative, Inc.

Mr. Roberts has received a number of awards and recognitions. He was chosen as the 1988 Outstanding Young Alumnus by the Virginia Tech Alumni Association and was inducted into the Omicron Delta Kappa national leadership honor society in 1989.

Richard E. Rominger was nominated for the post of Deputy Secretary of Agriculture by President Clinton, and sworn in on May 12, 1993. As Deputy Secretary, Rominger assists the Secretary in supervising the activities of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, one of the largest and most diverse departments in the federal government. USDA's mission includes management of traditional farm programs, conservation programs, domestic food assistance, research and education, agricultural marketing, international trade, meat and poultry inspection, forestry and rural development. Rominger has also had responsibility for USDA's budget, reorganization and downsizing.

Rominger is a California farmer who worked with his brother, sons and nephews to raise alfalfa, beans, corn, rice, safflower, sunflowers, tomatoes, wheat and other crops near Winters, California. He headed the California Department of Food and Agriculture from 1977 to 1982. During that period, he served as president of the Western Association of State Departments of Agriculture and the Western U. S. Agricultural Trade Association. He also was on the board of directors for the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture.

Rominger served on the board of the American Farmland Trust from 1986 to 1993 and has been active in a number of professional agricultural organizations concerned with soil and water policy, education, research and development and marketing.

He was selected Agriculturist of the Year at the California State Fair in 1992, and throughout his career has received numerous other awards including the Distinguished Service Award by the California Farm Bureau Federation in 1991.

Rominger received a Bachelor of Science Degree in plant science summa cum laude from the University of California at Davis and is a member of the agricultural honorary society of Alpha Zeta He is married to the former Evelyne Rowe. They have four children, Rick, Charlie, Ruth and Bruce.

Ken Root

Ken Root is the host of AgriTalk, a daily radio program heard on 120 stations in 31 states. The one-hour broadcast airs live at 10:06 a.m. Central time and addresses issues that affect those who live and work in small towns and rural areas.

Ken grew up on an Oklahoma farm, attended Oklahoma State University and taught vocational agriculture as his first job after college.

He began his broadcasting career in 1974 in Oklahoma City as an assistant farm broadcaster. In 1980, he moved to Kansas and worked seven years as a radio and television farm broadcaster.

During his years in Kansas, he covered agriculture in the United States and around the world. He also reported from Germany when the hostages from TWA flight 847 were released. Four of the passengers on that flight were his neighbors in Hutchinson, Kansas.

In 1986, he became president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters and in 1987 be left broadcasting and moved to New Jersey to work for American Cyanamid. He established the National AgriChemical Retailers Association, moved it to Washington, D.C., and served as its executive director for 5 years. Following that formative, period he founded an environmental compliance company that he still owns.

How did he wind up in Kansas City as the host of AgriTalk? In 1994, he was offered the chance to host the first interactive talk radio show for agriculture and rural America. It seemed like the perfect way to combine his broadcasting background with his knowledge of rural people, agriculture and public policy.

AgriTalk ventures into areas that traditional broadcasting avoids. Rural mental health is discussed with psychologist Val Farmer on alternating Monday programs. Social and political issues also are fair game. Early in the 2000 presidential campaign, Ken talked with all presidential candidates who campaigned in Iowa. AgriTalk program topics range from worm farming to cock fighting with diverse discussions that may focus a day on the expanding deer population or the impact: of U.S. farm policy on the size and economic health of farmers.  AgriTalk is a "caller driven" program. Callers are encouraged to express their opinions, regardless of the views of the guest or host. Many AgriTalk callers speak from mobile telephones as they do their daily work in farming and ranching. 

Appointed in January 2000 as Special Counsel for Agriculture in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice by Assistant Attorney General Joel Klein, Mr. Ross began his legal career in the Antitrust Section of the Ohio Attorney General's Office. His first tour in the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice was from 1975-82, when he worked on some of the Division's largest cases. In1982, he began a special assignment to the National Association of Attorneys General as Supreme Court Counsel, helping the State attorneys general draft Supreme Court petitions and prepare for oral argument. Since returning to the Department in 1992, he has worked in the Office of Policy Development and on the appellate staff of the Civil Division. From 1994 until January of this year, he worked as a senior trial attorney in the Office of Consumer Litigation, enforcing federal consumer protection statutes and representing the Food and Drug Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. He is a graduate of Tufts University and the George Washington University School of Law.

John Saunders became director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture on March 14, 1993. As director,  Saunders is responsible for overseeing more than 400 employees who are responsible for regulating and marketing Missouri's agricultural industry.

Until his appointment, Saunders served as a vice president of Mercantile Bank of St. Joseph. He is a member of the 4H Foundation Board of Trustees and the Missouri University College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Foundation Board of Directors. He is a past president of the MU Agriculture Alumni Board, and a past chairman of the St. Joe Area Chamber of Commerce Agribusiness Committee. He is a former president of the Missouri Pork Producers Association and the National Pork Producers Council. He is past president of the Mid-America International Agri-Trade Council (MIATCO), and vice president of the Midwest Association of State Departments of Agriculture (MASDA)/

Saunders graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a bachelor's degree in agriculture. He has received numerous awards and commendations during his lifetime career in agriculture. Saunders and his wife, Jeannie, own and manage an 850-acre livestock and grain farming operation in northwest Missouri. They have two grown sons, Lyle and Mark. Saunders enjoys promoting and talking about Missouri’s number one industry - agriculture.

David R. Shipman

Deputy Administrator, Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration

Mr. Shipman has been with the U.S. Department of Agriculture since 1976. He has served in various field and headquarters positions involving the analytical testing of agricultural products and the establishment of U.S. and International grain quality standards.

He currently serves as Deputy Administrator for the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration and is responsible for establishing U.S. grain standards and for managing the nations grain inspection and weighing system.

Mr. Shipman serves on a variety of committees, including the Secretary of Agriculture's Working Group on Technical Barriers to Trade; the Biotechnology Coordinating Committee; and is an alternate U.S. Delegate to the CODEX Committee on Cereals, Pulses, and Legumes.

John Stencel has been Special Assistant to the Administrator in Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) for the last 27 months. In this position, he is responsible for various legislative functions requiring contact with Members of Congress and their staffs and the development of policies to resolve problems and issues. He also is responsible for developing staff papers and special analyses of subjects in preparation for meetings, conferences, and Department of Agriculture officials. He is the Agency’s Outreach Coordinator and represents GIPSA in the Department of Agriculture’s Small Farms working group. 

Prior to being named to this position, he served as Deputy Administrator for Program Delivery and Field Operations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA). As Deputy Administrator, Mr. Stencel was responsible for the delivery of programs relating to production adjustment, price support, and soil conservation programs. Also, he was responsible for the uniform and effective administration of these programs through state and county FSA offices. 

He served as State Executive Director of the Colorado FSA office since 1993, where he provided policy direction to state office specialists, district directors, and State and county staffers. In addition, he served as Chair of the Food and Agriculture Committee for the State. 

From 1970 through 1993, Mr. Stencel served as Rocky Mountain Farmers Union President creating programs that increased the involvement of youth, young farmers, and women in the 16,500 family membership organization. He has also served as Farmers Union Service Association President and guided the development of the General Agency which employs 95 insurance agents in a three state region. 

Mr. Stencel is a 1970 graduate of Colorado State University where he received a B.S. degree in Social Science with emphasis in Agriculture, Political Science, and History.

Lee Swenson

Leland Swenson was elected president of the National Farmers Union (NFU) in 1988 and currently represents the 300,000 farm family members of NFU.  Re-elected unanimously in 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996 and 1998, Swenson has served as a prominent spokesperson for the interests of family farm agriculture and rural communities throughout the United States and internationally.

Under Swenson’s leadership, the National Farmers Union has enhanced its role in influencing legislation in Washington, D.C., and state capitals, developing and maintaining farmer-owned cooperatives and educating member-families about the issues of the day.

In addition to his responsibilities with NFU, Swenson serves on: the board of directors of the Consumer Federation of America; the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Policy Trade Advisory Committee; the board of overseers of the Cooperative For Assistance and Relief Everywhere, Inc. (CARE); the board, as president and chairman, of NFU’s Farmers Educational Foundation, NFU’s political action committee (NATFARMPAC) and NFU’s Ventures, Inc.; and the board of the Farmers Union Insurance Companies and Holding Company.

Swenson also serves as chairman of the Development Cooperation Committee of the 50-nation International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP). He has served as vice president of IFAP and as a member of the organization’s executive committee.

Prior to being elected president of NFU, Swenson served for 8 years as president of the South Dakota Farmers Union. There, he was responsible for the formation of the "South Dakota Farm Alliance" which brought farm and church groups together to work for better farm and tax policies. He also organized the largest farm rally ever held in South Dakota during the throes of the farm crisis of the 1980s.

Swenson grew up in the Farmers Union and is the first NFU president ever to have completed the organization’s youth program and earn the "Torchbearer" award, the organization’s highest educational honor.

Eric Tabor is a 1980 graduate of the University of Iowa School of Law, having completed his third year at Harvard Law School. He served three years as an Assistant Counsel in the Office of the Legislative Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives. He returned to farm with his family near Maquoketa, IA, and became active in politics as a congressional candidate in the 2^nd District of Iowa and as the chair of the Iowa Democratic Party (1993-1994).

In 1995, Eric came to the Iowa Attorney General's Office as an Assistant Attorney General in the Farm Division He was named Chief of Staff in 1998.

Steven N. Tanner is the Director of Technical Services Division of the USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration located in Kansas City, Missouri. He has held this position since 1994. In this position, he develops, manages, and coordinates the Agency’s research, technical training, and analytical service functions in the promotion of accurate assessment of grain quality throughout the national grain market system. Mr. Tanner also held the position of Deputy Director of this facility from 1993 to 1994.

In 1988, Mr. Tanner was appointed to chair the Codex Alimentarius Commission’s Committee on Cereals, Pulses, and Legumes. This committee is charged with developing grain and processed grain standards for world trade. The Codex Alimentarius Commission was established in 1962 jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization to establish food standards for world trade that will facilitate marketing and protect the health of consumers.

Also, from 1988 to 1993, Mr. Tanner was the staff assistant to the GIPSA Administrator. In that position, he provided technical guidance and consultation to the Administrator of the in matters relating to grain quality. Mr. Tanner was influential in setting strategic policy and plans regarding the use of technology to measure grain quality attributes.

Mr. Tanner began his career with USDA in 1976 as a laboratory manager testing processed grain products for compliance with USDA specifications prior to distribution and shipment to foreign countries. He received his B.S. in chemistry from the University of Maryland in 1974 and a M.B.A. from Mount Saint Mary’s College in 1988.

Tom Tunnell

Tom R. Tunnell has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Kansas Grain and Feed Association since 1980. The KGFA is a state wide trade association consisting of agribusinesses involved in the receiving, storing, merchandising and processing of grain and feed. The over 1,000 member companies that belong to KGFA represent 99% of all commercially licensed grain storage in Kansas. 

He also held the position as the President and CFO of the Kansas Fertilizer and Chemical Association since 1984.  The Kansas Fertilizer and Chemical Association membership includes those companies that provide crop input and services to Kansas producers.

Prior to coming to KGFA and KFCA, Tunnell was General Manager of Walker Products Company Incorporated, a grain storage/handling alfaIfa feed products manufacturer located in Lincoln, Kansas.

Tunnell has served on numerous boards and committees during his over 25 years of involvement in Kansas agriculture, including President of the Agricultural Associations Executive Council, a member of USDA Secretary Block's Special Committee on Hard Wheat Classification, the state association executive member of the National Grain and Feed Association's Rail Legislative Task Force, member of the Executive Committee of the Agricultural Retailers Association, and most recently was appointed by Kansas Governor Graves to the Governor's Working Group on Grain Transportation and Storage.

Tunnell has three grown daughters and a stepson. He and his wife Michele reside in Topeka, Kansas,

Dr. Luther Tweeten

Dr. Tweeten is the Anderson Professor of Agricultural Marketing, Policy, and Trade at The Ohio Stale University, Agricultural Economics Department. He has experience in public policy for agriculture, national economic development, and international trade and development. He has taught many subjects and is author or co-author of seven books and more than 500 journal articles and published papers.

Reared on a diversified Iowa crop and livestock farm, Dr. Tweeten has a Bachelor of Science Degree and a Doctorate Degree from Iowa State University and his Master's Degree from Oklahoma State University. He is a former President and the current Fellow of the American Agricultural Economics Association. Recent awards include the Charles Black Award from CAST, the Distinguished Alumni Award from Iowa State University College of Agriculture and the Distinguished Scholar Award from Ohio State University.

Dr. Tweeten served on numerous task forces and national committees including Farm Income and Wealth Data (1977), and Emerging Economics of Agriculture (1983). He headed the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology Task Forces on Emerging Economics of Agriculture (1983) and the Long-Term Viability of Agriculture (1987-1988), and served on the Rural Technology Panel of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA).

He directed pioneering research on public policy for food, agriculture, and rural development. Dr. Tweeten has extensive international experience in Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. Much of this work was advising governments regarding policy and directing international agricultural policy workshops.