About Ethan Miller

Ethan farms two operations in central Missouri, one with his father where they raise row crops and livestock and one in partnership where they raise no-till sorghum, soybeans, corn, wheat and cover crops. He also works as the District Manager for the Boone County Soil and Water Conservation District. Ethan is a graduate of the University of Missouri with a BS in Animal Science. He and his wife Amber have three children. . Ethan enjoys fishing, camping, and hunting in his spare time.

About Luke J. Lindberg

Luke J. Lindberg is the Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs at the United States Department of Agriculture, the top diplomatic posting at the department. Overseeing the Foreign Agricultural Service and the U.S. Codex Office, Under Secretary Lindberg is working to ensure fair, reciprocal, and open markets for America’s farm families across the globe. Previously, Lindberg served as President & CEO of South Dakota Trade and the Chief of Staff and Chief Strategy Officer at the Export-Import Bank of the United States. In these roles, he supported American small businesses, farmers, ranchers, and service providers as they navigated the global marketplace. Lindberg has led strategic initiatives in key areas like the great power competition with China, increasing liquified natural gas exports, securing critical minerals, and the execution of the ground-breaking Abraham Accords. Mr. Lindberg earned an M.B.A., an M.P.P., and a B.A., all from the University of Maryland.

About Ted Nelson

Ted Nelson is a Risk Management Consultant for StoneX Financial Inc. – FCM Division, which provides full-service, 24-hour futures and options brokerage, advisory, clearing & execution services on commodity exchanges worldwide. Nelson provides daily and extended market commentary and analysis of both the futures and cash markets. Nelson specializes in corn, milo, soybean and wheat. He works directly with customers in a rapidly changing marketplace, managing customers’ price risk and helping them stabilize profitability.

Originally from the PNW where his family was in the lumber industry. When not at the sawmill, he spent most of his time on the family farm. This is where he fell in love with Ag and the life it brings with it. Ted now works and lives in Kansas City, married to Kate with 2 children, Clyde 3.5 and Wrennie 2. When he is not trading he spends his time running around the park, at swim lessons, watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and drinking cold adult beverages when he gets a chance.

About Jess McCluer

Jess McCluer, Senior Vice President, Safety and Regulatory with the National Grain and Feed Association is responsible for directing and managing the NGFA’s wide-ranging operations programs for grain elevators, feed mills and grain processing plants.  

This includes NGFA’s activities regarding employee safety and industrial health, environmental issues, grain-handling facility design and equipment, grain inspection and weighing issues, grain and feed quality, crop technology, trade and agroterrorism/facility security related issues.  

Jess also serves as Chairman of the Department of Homeland Security, Food and Drug Administration and the US Department of Agriculture’s Food and Agriculture Sector Coordinating Council and represents NGFA on the USDA’s Agricultural Trade Advisory Committee for Trade in Grains, Feed, Oilseeds, and Planting Seeds.  The Journal of Agromedicine selected Jess as its 2021 “Leader in the Field.” The annual award is for those who have made significant contributions in agricultural safety and health practice, policy, and research. 

Jess received his undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University, and his Masters of Arts from the George Washington University.

About Dr. Julia Guazzelli Pezzali

Dr. Julia Guazzelli Pezzali earned her Bachelor’s in Veterinary Medicine from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, her MS from Kansas State University, and her Ph.D. from the University of Guelph. During her M.S., Dr. Pezzali investigated the utilization of various carbohydrate sources on nutrient digestibility and sulfur amino acid metabolism in dogs. Additionally, she characterized the production of extruded sorghum crisps for inclusion in granola bars for dogs. In her Ph.D., Dr. Pezzali conducted multiple trials to validate the indicator amino acid oxidation technique in domestic cats. Subsequently, she utilized this technique to empirically determine the minimum Phe and Met requirement in adult cats.

After completing her PhD, Dr. Pezzali embarked on her academic career as an Assistant Professor at Iowa State University, contributing to teaching in companion animal nutrition and pet food processing. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor and serves as the Director of the Pet Food Program at Kansas State University, where she contributes to teaching and research related to pet food processing technologies, and companion animal nutrition and metabolism.

The overall goal of her research program is to employ both basic and applied approaches to explore new ingredients, processing techniques, and dietary strategies to assist the industry in developing sustainable products that target and promote the overall health and well-being of companion animals.

About Mike Baker

Mike Baker is a 5th generation grain producer farming the same ground it homesteaded in 1885 in Trenton Nebraska. Along with growing grain sorghum he produces wheat and corn. Mike has been actively farming since 2001 since graduating the University of Nebraska with degrees in agronomy and agribusiness. He farms primarily non irrigated with a small amount of irrigation. 

Since graduating college the family farm has transitioned from working with his Grandpa, Father and now on to his son learning the occupation. Early on in his farming career Mike was recruited and appointed to the Nebraska Grain Sorghum Checkoff Board where he recently stepped down after more than a decade and a half of service. He had the ability to help producers, end users and everyone in between. In this tenure he started to dive into the specialty grain sorghum market. Along with farming he now owns and operates www.bakersacres.co which focuses solely on cleaning, packaging and shipping grain sorghum.

About Chris O’Connor

Chris O’Connor moved from mortgage banking to commodity management in 2007, beginning with import of soybean oil into Central America.  That business changed to grain, feed, and cattle in 2009 until he returned to the United States in 2015, where he has worked for commodity companies such as West Plains, and Gavilon/Viterra managing commodities from DDG and cottonseed to grains.  He currently manages Willamar Cotton and Grain, in South Texas, which includes a cotton gin and grain operations.

About Matt Dvorak

Matt Dvorak is the senior manager of the Houston business at The Andersons, Inc. where he oversees the strategic performance and manages a team of merchants trading wheat, sorghum and other grain/oilseed products.

Matt joined The Andersons in 2019 as part of the Lansing Trade Group, LLC acquisition. Prior to joining the company, he held roles as a location manager, barge transportation manager, and export wheat trader. He started his trading career with Louis Dreyfus in 2008. 

Matt holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics, international agricultural marketing, and finance from Oklahoma State University.

About Carlos Suarez

Carlos F. Suárez Isaacs is the Director of Global Sustainability for the the U.S. Grain Council, a nonprofit organization that promotes the use of U.S. barley, corn, sorghum, and related products throughout the world.

Carlos has worked for over 18 years in the field of international affairs, managing and executing programs in the areas of commercial development, government relations, and partnership building for non-profits, companies and the public sector. His most recent work has focused on sustainability, helping to develop and execute strategies to impact watershed conversation, foster sustainable cattle ranching, promote renewable energy, and biofuels in transportation. His current work focuses on addressing sustainability issues for corn, sorghum, and barley across global supply chains.

Prior to his current role, Carlos worked for the Council as a regional ethanol consultant for Latin America; served as the Associate Director for Business Development in Latin America with The Nature Conservancy; worked as a Specialist for the US Commercial Service; and as an Economic Specialist for the U.S. Department of State in Colombia.

He holds a BA in International Relations (Universidad del Rosario-Colombia), a Master’s Degree in Global Risk Management (Universidad Francisco Vitoria- Spain) and an MBA (HEC Montreal- Canada).

About Dr. Mireille Arguelles-Ramos

Dr. Argüelles-Ramos earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Animal Industry at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus, and a Ph.D. in Animal & Poultry Science and Physiology from North Carolina State University. She is a poultry nutritionist with 15 years of experience formulating commercial and experimental complete feeds for poultry. Dr. Argüelles-Ramos served as a technical manager for animal nutrition companies such as ADM and Novus International, Inc., covering Puerto Rico and North America. She also served as an Assistant Professor and Researcher at the University of Puerto Rico – Mayagüez. In 2018, Dr. Argüelles-Ramos joined the faculty in the Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at Clemson University, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses and developed an applied poultry research program focused on evaluating alternative feed ingredients, with an emphasis on sorghum as a functional feed grain for poultry.

La Dr. Argüelles-Ramos obtuvo su bachillerato y maestría en Industrias Pecuarias en la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Mayagüez, y un doctorado en Ciencia y Fisiología Animal y Avícola de la Universidad Estatal de Carolina del Norte. Es nutricionista avícola con 15 años de experiencia en la formulación de alimentos terminados comerciales y experimentales para aves de corral. La Dr. Argüelles-Ramos se desempeñó como gerente técnico de compañías de nutrición animal, como ADM y Novus International, Inc., para Puerto Rico y América del Norte. Además, se desempeñó como Catedrática Auxiliar e Investigadora en la Universidad de Puerto Rico – Mayagüez. En 2018, la Dra. Argüelles-Ramos se unió a la facultad del Departamento de Ciencias Animales y Veterinarias de la Universidad de Clemson, donde imparte cursos de pregrado y posgrado y desarrolló un programa de investigación avícola aplicada que evalúa ingredientes alternativos con un enfoque en el sorgo como alimento funcional para aves de corral.

About Thomas Russell

Thomas L. Russell co-owns, with brother Patrick J. Russell, Russell Marine Group, an international survey, analytical, and logistics company centered in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Tom has worked his entire 35 year career in shipping and grain trade. Tom was previously employed by both Lykes Steamship Line and Louis Dreyfus Company. 

About Dr. Katelyn Gaffield

Katelyn Gaffield is an Assistant Research Professor in Swine Nutrition with the Kansas State University Applied Swine Nutrition Team with a 100% research appointment. Originally from Illinois, Katelyn completed her B.S. and M.S. at the University of Illinois. Katelyn’s M.S. degree was in meat science with a focus on evaluating nutritional strategies for growing-finishing pigs and their subsequent impacts on growth performance, meat quality, and bacon characteristics. Katelyn then completed her Ph.D. in March of 2024 at Kansas State University with a focus on swine nutrition. Katelyn’s current position primarily involves conducting applied swine nutrition research focused on improving profitability, efficiency, and sustainability for pork producers. 

About Amanda Stumbo

Amanda Stumbo leads Alltech’s global Business Insights team, where she oversees strategic analysis across animal nutrition markets to help inform smarter, data-driven decisions in a rapidly evolving agri-food landscape. Her team is the driving force behind Alltech’s Agri-Food Outlook, the company’s annual global feed survey that draws on data from over 28,000 feed mills across 142 countries. This comprehensive report tracks compound feed production and pricing trends, offering valuable insight into global demand for feed ingredients.

With nearly 20 years at Alltech, Amanda brings deep expertise in marketing, strategy and industry intelligence. Her experience spans multiple facets of agribusiness — from feed and block products to specialty ingredients and premix — giving her a well-rounded perspective on how global innovation and trade shape on-farm realities. She played a key role in the integration of major feed business acquisitions and has led initiatives to strengthen Alltech’s commercial impact across North America.

Amanda holds a degree in communications from Morehead State University and is a graduate of Alltech’s executive management program, the Alltech Mini-MBA. A passionate advocate for agriculture, she is particularly focused on connecting global market trends to actionable insights for producers and supply chain partners.

Headquartered in Kentucky, Alltech is a global leader in animal nutrition and sustainable ag solutions, serving customers in more than 140 countries and operating 75 manufacturing facilities strategically located around the world. Its diverse portfolio of nutritional technologies and services improves the health and performance of animals and plants, resulting in better nutrition for all and a decreased environmental impact. 

About Florentino Lopez

Florentino Lopez is an independent agricultural consultant with Creando Mañana Agricultural
Consulting. Creando Mañana is an agricultural consulting company catering to the needs of
individuals and companies looking for a fresh perspective, insightful review, and the
opportunity to create non-traditional approaches that result in substantial and meaningful
change.

Florentino assists in promoting sorghum and other agricultural products both domestically and
internationally by facilitating direct product sales, building inter-company relationships, and sharing
technical information. Florentino also works to develop new companies and strategies to help the
agricultural supply chain.

Before this role, Florentino served as the executive director of the United Sorghum Checkoff Program, a
farmer-funded organization dedicated to improving the sorghum industry through research, promotion,
and education domestically and internationally.

About Andrew Brandt

Andrew Brandt serves as the Director of Trade Policy for the U.S. Grains Council (USGC), a non-profit organization that promotes the global use of U.S. barley, corn, sorghum and related products including ethanol and distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS). 

Prior to joining USGC in 2021, Brandt served as an international trade policy advisory on the Senate Finance Committee. Before joining the Finance committee, he spent five years working for Senator Grassley focusing on policy issues related to international trade, energy, agriculture, and financial services. He has also worked for U.S. Representative Randy Neugebauer (TX-19) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency.  

Brandt received his M.B.A. from the University of Virginia and his bachelor’s degree in Agribusiness Management from the University of Missouri. He grew up on a diversified livestock and row crop farm in West Central Missouri and he remains actively engaged in the production operations and management of the farm.