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ASTA's 124th Annual Convention
June 23 – 27, 2007, Omni Interlocken Resort
Denver, CO
Speakers
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GENERAL SESSIONS
Opening General Session
Monday, June 25, 8:00 am - 10:30 am
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“The Art of Innovation”
Our Opening General Session and Breakfast will feature a keynote presentation by Guy Kawasaki. Kawasaki is a managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm and a columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine. Previously, he was an Apple Fellow at Apple Computer, Inc., and was one of the individuals responsible for the success of the Macintosh computer. Guy is the author of eight books including The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream, and The Macintosh Way. Kawasaki’s presentation will provide you with strategic steps to create new products and services, calling upon his experience at Apple, as well as studies of several world-class companies, to help you stay ahead in the rapidly changing marketplace so that you can move from ideas to action!
See "Opening General Session" on the Special Events page for more information.
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The Honorable John Stulp, Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture, will provide a welcome at the Opening General Session and Breakfast at ASTA's 124th Annual Convention. Stulp served as a Prowers County commissioner from 1991 until January 2005. He also has served on numerous other boards and commissions, including the state Board of Agriculture (1986 to 1995), state Wildlife Commission (1995-99), the Connect Colorado technology committee (1996), and the Colorado Ag Development Authority & Value Added Board (2005-06). A member of the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union since 1975, Stulp for the last several years has been a leading proponent of building wind farms in wheat fields as a way to develop new economic opportunities and jobs for Colorado’s farmers and ranchers. Stulp’s family farming operation is home to the Lamar Light and Power Wind Farm, and Stulp is a principal in Prairie Wind Energy LLC. |
General Session II: Processors’ Panel Discussion
Tuesday, June 26, 8:00 a.m - 9:30 am
This session follows the food chain from consumer demands research to the end user, featuring a panel of key players. The session will include presentations by a food company, a consumer researcher, a nutrition leader and food information provider, and an organic seed producer and retailer, showing the current factors at play that shape your customers’ demands, as they are now and as they will evolve in the future. Don’t miss this valuable opportunity to hear from the end users what market demands you can expect to provide in the coming years!
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Dr. Jim Astwood of ConAgra Foods will provide a presentation covering the prominent themes for today's food companies Dr. Astwood joined ConAgra Foods in 2006 as Vice President for Nutrition, Scientific and Regulatory Affairs. In this role, he is responsible for new research and development programs in health & wellness; and is responsible for food labeling, regulatory affairs, toxicology, ingredient safety, allergy and health-related initiatives at ConAgra Foods.
Prior to joining ConAgra Foods, Dr. Astwood was at Monsanto Company from 1994 where he established a program in food allergy risk assessment and created the company's "Product Safety Center" responsible for the safety evaluation of foods and feeds derived from genetically modified crops. Dr. Astwood is internationally regarded as a pioneer of risk assessment of genetically modified food. |
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Susan Borra is a nationally recognized nutrition leader with over
twenty-five years of experience in strategically directing nutrition and
food safety issues, policies, communications programs, and managing
resources for national organizations representing the food retailing and
food processing industries. She is currently the president of the
International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation in Washington,
DC, a nonprofit organization with the mission to effectively communicate
science based information on health, nutrition and food safety for the
public good. She also serves as executive vice president at IFIC. |
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As a Consumer Food Marketing Specialist, Dr. Christin M. Bruhn studies consumer attitudes toward food safety and quality and conducts educational programs to inform consumers about new products and new technologies. She has training in food science and consumer economics and holds a PhD in Consumer Behavior from the University of California. She taught food science and consumer courses at the University of California and California State University before joining Cooperative Extension in 1986. Christine Bruhn has authored over one hundred professional papers on consumer attitudes toward food. She is past chair of the Food Science Communicators of the Institute of Food Technologists, has been recognized by the International Association for Food Protection for her work in food safety, is a Fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology of the United Kingdom and a Fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists in the United States. |
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Marc Cool of Seeds of Change will provide a presentation from the perspective of an organic seed producer and his work addressing the needs of the consumer in a rapidly changing marketplace. Cool’s twenty-year professional career has spanned from working in the alfalfa seed industry in California, developing new markets for proprietary varieties and technology around the world, to then moving to Oregon where he worked in the turf and forage grass industry. Marc Cool has now joined Seeds of Change® based out of Santa Fe, New Mexico as their Director of Seeds. Seeds of Change® is a 100% certified organic vegetable seed and food, production and distribution business. His responsibilities are to develop the commercial side of the organic seed business and provide integration between the organic seed industry, professional vegetable growers and the food industry. |
General Session III: Growers’ Panel Discussion
Wednesday, June 27, 8:00 am - 9:45 am
Following up on the food chain perspectives from the previous day’s panel, Wednesday’s panel discussion will take the topic one step further to hear the needs and contemporary issues of the growers of America’s most valuable commodities. The panel will include presenters from the National Corn Growers, the National Cotton Council, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Bruce Knight, Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs at USDA, who will moderate the panel discussion. The session offers a unique opportunity for collaboration between our producers of seed and the growers who use them - don’t miss it!
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Bill Chase lives near Wolsey where he farms corn, soybeans and wheat and maintains a cow/calf operation. Bill was raised on a farm north of Huron and started farming in 1976. Bill has served on the SDCGA board since January 2001 and is currently the board’s Vice President. In addition to serving on the SDCGA board, Bill is also a member of the National Corn Growers Association Production and Stewardship Action Team. |
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Allen Helms, Jr. of the National Cotton Council will participate in the Growers Panel Discussion. The panel also features Bruce Knight of USDA and representatives from National Corn Growers and United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association. Helms, a Clarkedale, Ark., producer, was elected chairman of the National Cotton Council for 2006. Named during the NCC's annual meeting in Tucson, he served as the NCC's vice chairman in 2005 and succeeds Woods Eastland, a Greenwood, Miss., cooperative official. Helms is co-owner of Helms Farms, an operation that includes cotton, corn, soybeans, rice and wheat in Clarkedale, Ark. He also serves as president of Crittenden Gin Company and as a director of Planters Cotton Oil Mill. |
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James D. (“Jim”) McMillan is a group manager and principal chemical engineer in the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Bioenergy Center. The group he leads works to advance biochemical- and thermochemical-based biorefining technologies, with a current focus on economical production of ethanol from cellulosic feedstocks. Jim is the co-inventor on two patents, co-recipient of two R&D 100 awards, and author or co-author of six book chapters and more than 60 technical papers and reports and over 100 posters and presentations. He co-chairs the Society of Industrial Microbiology’s annual Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals and is a member of both the American Chemical Society and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). Jim also is or has been an adjunct faculty member in the Colorado State University, University of Colorado, and University of Puerto Rico chemical engineering departments. He obtained his B.S. in chemical engineering with high distinction from Colorado State University, and his M.S. in chemical engineering practice and Ph.D. in biochemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. |
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Bruce Knight, USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, will moderate the Growers' Panel. Knight provides leadership and oversight for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Agricultural Marketing Service and the Grain Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards Administration. Before assuming this post in 2006, he served as Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the lead agency for conservation on private working agricultural lands. The panel will consist of producer leaders from the National Corn Growers Association, United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association, the National Cotton Council, and others, who will discuss how grower needs impact the seed industry. |
OTHER CONVENTION SPEAKERS
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Daren Coppock, CEO of the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG), will provide a presentation at ASTA’s Farm Seed Division meeting held Wednesday, June 27 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. As the chief staff officer for NAWG, he is responsible for implementing policy created by the Board of Directors, including advocacy before the Congress and federal agencies, on topics including federal farm policy, environmental regulation, biotechnology, transportation, taxes, and many other subjects. |
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The Environmental and Conservation Seed Committee meeting on Monday, June 25 from 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. will feature Arlen Lancaster, Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service within USDA. As NRCS chief executive officer, Mr. Lancaster oversees locally-led, cooperative conservation programs. Under his direction, NRCS works with private landowners and partners to conserve, maintain and improve natural resources. |
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Mark Bradley, Associate Deputy Administrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Transportation and Marketing Programs, National Organic Program (NOP), will provide a presentation at the Organic Seed Committee meeting on Monday, June 25 at 10:45 a.m. Bradley is responsible for development and maintenance of the U.S. National Organic Standards and the accreditation of private and government organizations that certify organic producers and handlers on behalf of the Department. His presentation will include his view of organic seed issues, particularly commercial availability, and implementation of the August 6 NOSB recommendation regarding seed. |
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Kevin Morris, Executive Director of the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program, will provide a presentation at the Lawn Seed Division meeting on Tuesday, June 26 at 1:15 p.m. Mr. Morris will present information on the recent activities and futire plans for the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP). He will also discuss the current status of the National Turfgrass Research Initiative. |
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The ASTA Invasive Species Working Group meeting will be held on Monday, June 25 from 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. and will include a presenatation by Dr. K. George Beck of Colorado State University’s Department of BioAgricultural Sciences and Pest Management. |
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Christian B. Dellis of USDA/APHIS will deliver a presentation on /APHIS’s new Phytosanitary Certificate Issuance and Tracking System (PCIT) to the Phytosanitary Committee, being held on Monday, June 25 at 2:15 p.m. Dellis began working for the Phytosanitary Issues Management staff of USDA/APHIS in 2004 as an Export Specialist and was recently promoted to Senior Export Specialist. He has been dealing with export issues to Central and South America and the Caribbean. His main focus has been as the Program Manager for the Phytosanitary Certificate Issuance and Tracking (PCIT) system. |
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The Vegetable and Flower Seed Division meeting, being held Tuesday, June 26 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., will feature a presentation by Debi Borden-Miller of Colorado’s own Welby Gardens, one of the host locations of the All-America Selections flower and vegetable trials. Debi is currently a board member of the Colorado Garden & Home Show, and represents the Colorado Nursery and Greenhouse Association on the management team of ProGreen Expo and serves on several committees of the CO Nursery and Greenhouse Association. She is past president and long-time board member of the Colorado Greenhouse Growers Association, and past president of GreenCo. |
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John Becherer will provide a presentation at the Joint Corn & Sorghum and Soybean Division on Tuesday, June 26 at 4:00 p.m. Becherer is the Chief Executive Officer of the United Soybean Board. He directs the implementation of the USB’s budget and manages the soybean checkoff’s national office in Chesterfield, MO. Prior to joining USB, John served as Executive Director for the Conservation Technology Information Center in West Lafayette, Indiana. He has more than 25 years of management experience in agricultural organizations. |
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Bill, John, and Shannon Latham of Latham Seed Company and Latham Hi-Tech Hybrids will provide a multi-generational presentation on the seed industry during the Future Seed Executives (FuSE) Meeting on Monday, June 25 at 4:00 p.m. The presentation will feature their perspectives on a number of topics including: where the industry has come and where it is going; challenges and opportunities that seed companies are currently facing and will face in the future; advice for new professionals and students who are about to enter the industry; benefits of being active in the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) early in your career; and what it is like for a family owned seed company involving multiple generations in business. Bill Latham, President of Latham Seed Company, is a past President of ASTA and is Vice President of the Independent Professional Seed Association (IPSA). John Latham, President of Latham Seeds’ sister company, Latham Hi-Tech Hybrids, has served as President of the Iowa Seed Association and is active in ASTA. Shannon Latham, Vice President of Marketing of Latham Hi-Tech Hybrids, is a past President of the Iowa Chapter of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA). |
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