Search

2024 Annual Meeting Speakers

Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Xochitl Torres Small

Xochitl Torres Small was confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as Deputy Secretary of Agriculture on July 11, 2023. She is the first Latina to hold this position.

Prior to her confirmation as Deputy Secretary, Torres Small served as Under Secretary for Rural Development. In this role, she oversaw loans and grants to provide infrastructure improvements; business development; affordable housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural, Tribal, and high-poverty areas. During her leadership, USDA Rural Development secured $2 billion to support rural broadband through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Prior to joining USDA, Torres Small was a United States Representative for the fifth largest district in the country. As Representative, Torres Small served as a member of the House Agriculture Committee, the House Armed Services Committee and as chairwoman of the Oversight, Management, and Accountability subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee. Torres Small was the first woman and first person of color to represent New Mexico’s second congressional district.

The granddaughter of farmworkers, Torres Small grew up in the borderlands of New Mexico. She has worked as a field representative for Senator Tom Udall, a clerk for United States District Court Judge Robert C. Brack, and an attorney practicing water and natural resources law. Torres Small has a law degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law, an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and an international baccalaureate from Waterford Kamhlaba United World College of Southern Africa. She’s married to New Mexico State Representative Nathan Small.

Deputy Secretary Torres Small will provide remarks during Monday’s Leadership Lunch.


Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Agriculture Robert Bonnie

Robert Bonnie is the Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation at USDA. Prior to his confirmation he served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Climate Advisor at USDA.

Before joining USDA, Bonnie was at Duke University first as a Rubenstein Fellow and later as an Executive in Residence at the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions working on conservation and environmental issues in rural America.

In 2020, Bonnie also worked with the Bipartisan Policy Center on its Farm and Forest Carbon Solutions Initiative. He was Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment at USDA from 2013 to 2017, and a senior advisor to Secretary Tom Vilsack from 2009 to 2013.

Prior to joining USDA, Bonnie was vice president for land conservation at Environmental Defense Fund where he focused on developing incentives to reward stewardship on private lands. Bonnie has master’s degrees from Duke in forestry and environmental management. He lives with his wife, Julie, and daughter, Lilly, in Loudoun County, Virginia.

Under Secretary Bonnie will provide remarks during Monday’s Leadership Lunch.


NRCS Chief Terry Cosby

NRCS Chief Terry Cosby leads a premier federal conservation agency known for its 3,000 field office network that helps farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners nationwide plan and carry out voluntary conservation activities on their operations.

During Chief Cosby’s more than 40-year career with NRCS, he has held numerous leadership and staff positions. He began his career as an NRCS intern in Iowa in 1979 and rose through the agency’s ranks to become its 17th chief on May 24, 2021. Prior to his current position, Cosby served as NRCS’s Acting Chief for several months.

Chief Cosby’s conservation and agricultural roots run deep. He grew up on his family’s cotton farm and attended a land grant university that prepared him well to serve all producers, including those who were historically underserved. His childhood, education, and passion for conservation and agriculture paved the way for him to reach great heights throughout his NRCS career. Prior to being named Acting Chief, he served as NRCS State Conservationist in Ohio for 16 years. His other leadership positions include Deputy State Conservationist in Idaho, Assistant State Conservationist for Field Operations in Missouri, and Area Resource Conservationist in Iowa.

Chief Cosby will provide a keynote address at Monday’s General Session.


Karen Ross – Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture

Secretary Ross of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) leads in agricultural issues nationally, internationally, and in California, in areas including environmental stewardship, climate change adaptation, and trade. Before joining CDFA, Secretary Ross was Chief of Staff for U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and served as President of the California Association of Winegrape Growers and Vice-President of the Agricultural Council of California.

During Secretary Ross’ tenure, CDFA has focused on core functions to protect and promote California agriculture, investing in the Department’s employees to provide the best service to farmers, ranchers, and consumers and foster an agricultural industry that embraces its role as a global leader on everything from the most technical aspects of farming to the broadest environmental imperatives.

Secretary Ross has strengthened partnerships across government, academia and the nonprofit sector in the drive to maintain and improve environmental stewardship and to develop adaptation strategies for the specific impacts of climate change. She has initiated programs to provide greater opportunities for farmers and ranchers to engage in sustainable environmental stewardship practices through water conservation, energy efficiency, nutrient management, and ecosystem services; and she has worked to provide greater access to farm-fresh foods at school cafeterias through CDFA’s Farm to Fork Program.

Secretary Ross will provide remarks at Monday’s General Session.


Erik Wahl – Artist & Author

Erik Wahl is a San Diego based and internationally recognized graffiti artist, best-selling author of The Spark and the Grind and UNTHINK, and entrepreneur. He is a catalyst for inspiring audiences to unleash their creativity to achieve superior levels of performance and challenging professionals to embrace disruption and build their value proposition. He redefines the term “keynote speaker.” Pulling from his history as both a businessman and an artist, Erik’s on-stage painting seamlessly becomes a visual metaphor to the core of his message, encouraging organizations towards innovations and superior levels of performance.

Wahl believes the purpose of art is not to produce a product, the purpose of art is to produce thinking. The secret is not the mechanics or technical skill that create art – but the process of introspection and different levels of contemplation that generate it. Once you learn to embrace this process, your creative potential is limitless.

Wahl will be providing a keynote at Monday’s General Session. During his keynote, he will be creating two pieces of artwork that will be available in the NCF Auction.


Krysta Harden – President and CEO, U.S. Dairy Export Council

As president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, Krysta Harden leverages a strong background within agriculture, sustainability and food policy in fulfilling USDEC’s mission to promote dairy exports and enrich the well-being of people, communities and the planet. In February 2021, Harden became only the third president and CEO to lead USDEC since its inception in 1995 and its first female chief executive.

Harden joined USDEC in May 2020 as chief operating office for nine months before being named president and CEO. When she joined USDEC, Harden was not new to dairy. In April 2019, she began working for Dairy Management Inc., to define the vision, strategy and plan forward for U.S. dairy’s environmental commitment. Before joining DMI, Harden served three years as senior vice president of external affairs and chief sustainability officer for Corteva Agriscience, the agriculture division of DuPont, while also serving as vice president of public policy at DuPont. She also spent nearly seven years working with Secretary Tom Vilsack at The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), including two years and seven months as deputy secretary. At USDA, Harden helped shape agriculture policy, leading implementation of the 2014 Farm Bill.

Preceding her service at USDA, Harden was CEO of the National Association of Conservation Districts for five years, providing national leadership for natural resource conservation and representing thousands of conservation districts across the nation. Harden spent 12 years on Capitol Hill as staff director for the House subcommittee on peanuts and tobacco and as chief of staff and press secretary for former Congressman Charles Hatcher.

Krysta is also a board member of AgBiome, the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), Global Child Nutrition Foundation, The Change Collective Advisory Council, and the University of Georgia Agriculture Advisory Council.

Harden will provide a keynote address during Tuesday’s General Session.


Carlos Suarez – State Conservationist, USDA-NRCS

Carlos Suarez began his career with NRCS in the summer of 1990 as a student trainee in Puerto Rico and has served in many different capacities throughout his time with NRCS. Mr. Suarez also temporarily held two USDA-level positions: Acting Director for the Pacific Islands Area and the Acting Director for the Stewardship and Community Development Division at USDA Headquarters. Mr. Suarez also served as the USDA Lead Post-hurricane Maria and Irma recovery efforts to Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands.

He has been a member of numerous national-level teams and has served on multiple occasions as an international environmental consultant to the U.S. Agency for International Development and The Millennium Challenge Corporation.  He has represented USDA on various international mission trips to The Netherlands, Israel, Australia, South Africa and Mexico providing his expertise on climate-smart conservation. Mr. Suarez has held two diplomatic assignments as Watershed Advisor for the U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua from 2000-2002 and in 2009, where he served as Acting Deputy Country Director for the U.S. Agency for International Development at the U. S. Embassy in Mexico City, Mexico.

In 2022, Mr. Suarez earned the Presidential Rank Award – the highest recognition bestowed upon a federal employee. He was the only NRCS leader to earn this prestigious award in 2022, and one of very few to be recognized from the Department of Agriculture. Amongst his many leadership qualities for earning this award, his dedication and commitment to equity and inclusion of all customers and employees was highlighted.

A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Mr. Suarez holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Mechanization (Engineering) Technology from the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, a Master of Science degree in Geoenvironmental Studies from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania and a Graduate Certificate in Public Policy and Leadership from American University in Washington, D.C.  Mr. Suarez is blessed to be the father of three children: Andrea, Alex, and Christopher (CJ).

Suarez will provide welcome remarks during Tuesday’s General Session.


Alyssa Charney – Director for Lands and Climate-Smart Agriculture at the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy

Alyssa Charney is the Director for Lands and Climate-Smart Agriculture at the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy (Climate Policy Office). The Climate Policy Office implements the President’s domestic climate agenda, coordinating the all-of-government approach to tackle the climate crisis.

Charney previously served as Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Prior to serving at USDA, Charney worked on agriculture and conservation policy on Capitol Hill and at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. She holds an M.S. in agriculture and food policy from Tufts University and a B.A. from Vassar College.

Charney will be a panelist during Tuesday’s General Session.


Dr. Dewayne L. Goldmon – USDA Senior Advisor for Racial Justice and Equity

Dr. Dewayne L. Goldmon is the inaugural Senior Advisor for Racial Justice and Equity at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) where he serves as a key advisor to the Secretary of Agriculture. In this Presidential appointment, he provides counsel on a broad range of matters, and liaises with relevant White House personnel on designing, planning, and executing key initiatives and priorities while representing the Secretary and USDA on inter- and intra-agency working groups and public facing forums.

Dr. Goldmon provides leadership on the implementation of congressional initiatives and on cross-departmental racial equity work. He works closely with the Secretary and the Department to address the cumulative impacts of prior discrimination, working with his colleagues to transform USDA into a racially equitable department.

Dr. Goldmon has served as Executive Director of the National Black Growers Council and worked for 25 years in the agricultural chemical and seed industry. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Arkansas and his Ph.D. from Iowa State University, all in agronomy.

Dr. Goldmon will be a panelist during Tuesday’s General Session.


Nancy Wahl-Scheurich – Executive Director, California Association of Resource Conservation Districts

Nancy Wahl-Scheurich joined the CARCD team in early 2020 as a Project Coordinator. She soon moved to a Project Manager role and then became the Pollinator and Wildlife Habitat Program Manager. She served as Interim Executive Director from August to December 2022. When a new Executive Director was hired, she transitioned into a dual role as Deputy Director and Program Manager for Pollinator & Wildlife Habitat. She was appointed as the Executive Director in November of 2023.

Wahl-Scheurich leverages her passion for sustainability and social justice and private sector project management/coordination experience – along with 10 years as an eco-entrepreneur – to get the job done. Earlier in her career, she held management and executive positions in the software industry, with a focus on international business. While her children were young, she consulted and taught business courses at California State University – Monterey Bay. Prior to joining CARCD, Nancy founded a company that manufactured energy efficient lighting products made in the USA from recycled e-waste plastic, and co-founded another dedicated to bringing clean, affordable electricity to un-electrified communities in Africa. She has a B.S. in Business Administration, a B.A. in French and Inter-American studies, and an M.S. in Marketing. She speaks Spanish, French, and German and is studying Swahili in her spare time. Nancy is a native Californian, currently living in Santa Cruz.

Wahl-Scheurich will be a panelist during Tuesday’s General Session.


Terry Baker – CEO, Society of American Foresters

Terry Baker is the CEO of the Society of American Foresters (SAF). He oversees all of SAF’s programs and collaborates with his Board of Directors to establish a strategic vision committed to the scientific sustainable management of America’s forests. He strives to build strong relationships with partners that leverage our unified voice as a profession. Baker serves on the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Board of Directors to maintain the presence of forestry professionals in sustainable certifications.

Prior to his selection as SAF CEO in September 2018, Baker served in various roles within the USDA Forest Service. His almost 20-year federal career started in his home state of Florida on the Apalachicola National Forest. From there, he held positions on several other national forests in the western and southeastern US. He has been a wildland fire fighter, forester, and administrator of over 1 million acres.

Baker earned a Master’s degree in Forest Management and Policy from Yale University in 2007, a Bachelor’s degree in Forest Resources and Conservation at the University of Florida in 2004, and a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Sciences from Florida A&M University. He was honored by University of Florida as one of their 40 Under 40 alumni in 2019.

Baker will be a panelist during Tuesday’s General Session.


Seanicaa Edwards Herron – Founder and Executive Director, Freedmen Heirs Foundation, Inc.

Seanicaa Edwards Herron is an agricultural economist and market analyst with close to 20 years of experience spanning across the academic, private, and government sectors. Ms. Edwards Herron currently serves as Founder and Executive Director of Freedmen Heirs Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit organization laser focused on expediting change in U.S. agriculture by bridging the gap between two worlds: Black farmers and the marketplace. Dedicated to a vision of eliminating inequities in agriculture, Freedmen Heirs Foundation’s mission is to provide Black farmers access to technical assistance, capital, and new market opportunities.

Ms. Edwards Herron has previously served in the capacity of agricultural economist for the USDA World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB) and Economic Research Service (ERS), University of Missouri-Columbia Commercial Agriculture Program, and Informa Economics. Ms. Edwards Herron is also a former contributor to USDA radio on livestock markets and weekly briefings for the Secretary of Agriculture, Chief Economist, and top USDA officials.

Ms. Edwards Herron earned her Bachelor’s degree in Agribusiness and Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics, both from Mississippi State University.

Ms. Edwards Herron will be a panelist during Tuesday’s General Session.


Gary Matteson – Senior Vice President, Beginning Farmer Programs and Outreach, Farm Credit

Gary Matteson works for Farm Credit’s trade association in Washington, D.C. as Senior Vice President, Beginning Farmer Programs and Outreach. This includes policy work on local foods, sustainable agriculture, and direct-to-consumer agriculture.

He is an advocate for young, beginning, small, and minority farmer outreach programs. This includes work on emerging opportunities in local foods, direct-to-consumer agriculture, and generational transition of farm businesses. He has researched, designed curricula, and taught financial and business planning skills for more than fifteen years to thousands of beginning farmers in conferences, seminars, webinars, and college classrooms. Mr. Matteson specializes in making basic business concepts approachable and relevant to beginning farmers.

For thirty years Mr. Matteson was a small farmer raising greenhouse wholesale cut flowers marketed in the Northeast and beef cattle for local sales. He has served on numerous boards of directors including Farm Credit, Farmer Veteran Coalition, Farmers Market Coalition, Native Agriculture Financial Services, and many other non-profits.

Matteson will be a panelist during Tuesday’s General Session.


Jeanette Lombardo – Chief Executive Director, Farmer Veteran Coilition

Jeanette Lombardo’s passion and life experiences have uniquely prepared her to lead Farmer Veteran Coalition, one of eight collaborators with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on its Discrimination Financial Assistance Program to aid farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.

Born in Wiesbaden, Germany, while her father served in the U.S. Air Force, she was raised on her family’s multi-generational farm in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Jeanette spent decades in the agriculture financing industry before co-founding and serving as Chief Strategic Officer for Global Water Innovations, Inc., a desalination technology company that creates innovative water solutions for the agricultural sector. Prior to this, Jeanette was the principal for California Food and Agribusiness Advocates, whose mission was to improve policy decisions for farmers in water and land use, crop protection tools, and international trade.

Over the course of her career, Jeanette has received appointments at the federal and state level, including to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Farmer, Rancher, and Rural Communities Committee, the USDA’s Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for Trade, and the State of California Environmental Protection Agency’s Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board. Jeanette also has served on several agricultural association boards, including President for California Women for Agriculture and American Agri-Women.

Lombardo will be a panelist during Tuesday’s General Session.


Rachel Petitt – Southern California Soil and Water Hub Coordinator, Resource Conservation District Greater San Diego County

Rachel Petitt is the Soil and Water Hub Coordinator for Southern California, facilitating climate smart farming practices among producers in San Bernardino, Riverside, and San Diego counties.

Petitt has been a farm advocate in the non-profit sector for the past twelve years, supporting CSA legislation, dry farming initiatives, farm to institution market channels, and other projects uplifting small scale producers nationwide. Upon earning a degree in Community Studies, Food and Agriculture from UC Santa Cruz, Rachel worked on a narcissus hybridizing farm, integrated vegetable and poultry operation, hop yard, and apricot orchard around Monterey and Yolo counties. She now resides in rural San Diego county.

Petitt will be a panelist during Tuesday’s General Session.


Spencer Chase – Managing Editor, Agri-Pulse

Spencer Chase is an enterprising agricultural journalist and broadcaster who is the managing editor of Agri-Pulse. He serves as the host of Agri-Pulse Newsmakers, a weekly show focused on the heart of ag policy, and produces Agri-Pulse DriveTime, a daily podcast of key events.

Chase was the 2022 president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB), one of the youngest broadcasters to ever have been selected.

A broadcast and news editorial journalism graduate of South Dakota State University, Chase is originally from a farm near Wolsey, South Dakota.

Chase will be moderating the panels during Tuesday’s General Session and serve as Master of Ceremonies for Monday’s NCF Live Auction and Tuesday’s Appreciation Banquet.


Return to the Annual Meeting page

Latest News

Calendar of Events

Find your Local District

Accessibility Toolbar