Speakers

Kristin Bonham

Kristin Bonham is the Regional Vice President of Animal Nutrition and Health North America at dsm-firmenich, the leading innovators in nutrition, health, and beauty. Since joining in 2020, she and her team are responsible for providing vital vitamins and premixes to the animal industry. Beginning January 2024 in addition to her current role, Kristin will assume the leadership of Sales Excellence for ANH globally and will ensure customer-facing teams are equipped with the right capabilities for maximum impact in the market.

Prior to dsm-firmenich, Kristin was with Bayer Corporation, formerly Monsanto Company, for 25 years primarily in the commercial row crop business. Throughout her career, she held various marketing and sales positions with increasing responsibility such as Regional Business Manager, Regional Account Manager and Regional Business Director for the western and southern US. She is known for creating strong and authentic customer relationships throughout the animal agriculture, biotechnology and crop science industries. As a focused leader, she excels at creating motivated, high performing teams that effectively meet or exceed business goals. Kristin is passionate about empowering and mentoring the next generation of women in the workplace and serves as executive-sponsor of Women Inspired Network (WIN) at dsm-firmenich.

Kristin obtained her Bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University in Agricultural Communications/Journalism. She is on the Board of Lay Ministry at Messiah in St. Louis, Missouri where she resides with her husband and three teenagers / young adults. 

Richard Brock

Richard Brock is owner and president of Brock Associates, an agricultural marketing advisory service and publisher of The Brock Report, established in 1980. His firm, based in Milwaukee, Wis., now has eight offices, manages grain sales on over 800,000 acres throughout the United States and is an advisor on purchasing strategies for many large poultry, pork, dairy and food companies. Brock grew up on the family grain and pork farm in central Indiana. He received his bachelor's degree in agricultural economics from Purdue University and his master’s degree from Cornell University. He and his wife Cathy have three grown children and 10 grandchildren.

Julie Coble

Julie Coble is Director, HR Business Partners for Kent Corporation a diversified family-owned corporation with four operating subsidiaries including; Grain Processing Corporation, Kent Nutrition Group, Kent Pet Group and Kent Precision Food Group.  The family of companies are involved in corn wet milling, the production of animal feeds,  making cat litter and the manufacture of food and beverage products.  As the HR Director, Julie leads the HR Business Partner Team across all of the operating companies to cultivate the Kent Culture. 

She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from St. Ambrose University. 

Julie and her husband Nate have two daughters, Abby and Jordan and two orange cats, Cece and Kiwi. 

Constance Cullman

Constance Cullman is the American Feed Industry Association’s president and CEO. She also serves as the president of AFIA’s public charity, the Institute for Feed Education and Research and represents the AFIA on international issues, including serving on the International Feed Industry Federation’s board of directors and executive committee, as well as the Global Feed LCA Institute’s board of directors. Cullman previously served as the president and CEO of Farm Foundation. Prior to that role, she held various positions at Dow AgroSciences; Corn Refiners Association; the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service; the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, and The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. 

Cullman has a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics and a master’s degree in agricultural economics with an emphasis on international trade and agricultural policy from The Ohio State University. She hails from Marysville, Ohio, where her family owned and operated a cow/calf farm.

Mark Dopp

Mark Dopp is the chief operating officer and general counsel for the Meat Institute, previously serving as its senior vice president of regulatory affairs and general counsel. In his role, Dopp oversees policy development and represents industry views on significant regulatory, scientific, legislative, and communications matters. He also provides legal counsel to the Meat Institute and oversees its administration and financial matters.

Dopp became the Meat Institute’s outside general counsel in May 1995 and in 1999 he formally joined the Institute and assumed responsibility for its legal and regulatory affairs. Before joining the Meat Institute, Dopp worked at Hogan and Hartson (now Hogan Lovells), where he was active in areas of food and agricultural law on behalf of many clients, including domestic and foreign corporations. He joined Hogan and Hartson in 1989 as an associate and in January 1993 became a partner. Dopp began his career in USDA's Office of the General Counsel in 1984 and entered private practice in 1985.

Dopp received his Bachelor of Science-Agriculture degree in agricultural economics from the University of Wisconsin and his Master of Science from Michigan State University in 1981, also in agricultural economics. He received his law degree in 1984 from the University of Missouri.

Gary Huddleston

Gary Huddleston is the American Feed Industry Association’s director of feed manufacturing and regulatory affairs. He joined the association in May 2015 and has more than 30 years of experience in feed manufacturing. Huddleston manages the AFIA’s efforts surrounding regulatory issues involving the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Transportation. He assists in the development and coordination of AFIA’s education and training programs related to feed manufacturing. Huddleston is the staff contact for AFIA’s Equipment Manufacturers and Production Compliance Committees. Prior to joining the AFIA, Huddleston worked at Southern States Cooperative, Inc., since 1984, where he performed numerous feed manufacturing roles. Huddleston holds a bachelor’s degree in agribusiness and economics from Tennessee Technological University.

Lexi McWiggins

Lexi McWiggins is the Director of Talent (L&D and Management) for Consolidated Grain and Barge with a history of working in both professional services and the agriculture industry.She has experience leading HR systems transformations, designing onboarding programs, transitioning HR field teams from responsive to strategic and building content for leadership development. She is passionate about ensuring the right people are in the right roles while enabled to grow from hire to retire. Prior to CGB, Lexi consulted with large multi-national organizations. When not at work you will find Lexi spending time on her small family farm with her 2 sons and many animals. 

Steve Meyer

Dr. Meyer joined Partners for Production Agriculture in January 2018. In his role, he speaks on various industry topics, develops and delivers economic data and analyses, and works with clients to provide critical perspectives.

Dr. Meyer has worked in the hog industry in a number of roles. As Vice President of Pork Analysis for EMI, he conducted ongoing analysis of hog and pork markets. As President of Paragon Economics, which he founded, he monitored and analyzed cattle, beef, and poultry markets. He served 12 years as an author of The Daily Livestock Report, sponsored by CME Group. He currently writes a feature article for the National Hog Farmer’s Weekly Preview e-letter that focuses on economic issues in North America’s swine/pork sector.

Prior to founding Paragon Economics, Dr. Meyer served as Director of Economics for the National Pork Producers Council and the National Pork Board from 1993 to 2002. In that capacity, he provided economic counsel to producers and NPPC/NPB staff while coordinating staff and consultants’ activities regarding meat industry production. He also administered NPPC/NPB programs dealing with marketing and pricing systems, industry structure, coordination, and competitiveness. Since leaving the NPB staff, Dr. Meyer has served as the organization’s consulting economist.

Steve and his wife, Carolyn, have three children and live in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Caitlin Murphy

Caitlin Murphy is the founder and CEO of Global Gateway Logistics, a global freight forwarding and Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier firm headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. In 2017, Murphy founded Global Gateway Logistics offering services in global maritime, air and ground transportation for an array of commodities. During her 13-year career in domestic and global logistics, Murphy managed an extensive portfolio of large scale domestic and global logistics projects. Her extensive experience in the logistics industry and firsthand knowledge of global shipping markets and fundamentals have assisted many firms in strategizing their global supply chains. The firm’s mission is to simplify global logistics through a hybrid approach of boutique customer service and technology.  

In 2022, Murphy was chosen by Governor Mike Parson for the Missouri Supply Chain Task Force. She was also named one of the Most Influential Business Women 2022 by the St. Louis Business Journal.  

She received a BSBA in International Business from the University of Missouri and attended Peking University in Beijing. She also serves on the board of Camp Circle Star, a nonprofit organization that provides that provides summer camp opportunities for children with disabilities throughout the region. She resides in St. Louis with her family.  

Matt Walters

Matt Walters is the director of meat procurement for H-E-B. H-E-B Grocery Company, LP, stands as a privately owned American supermarket chain headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. With more than 420 stores and over 145,000 Partners (employees) across the U.S. state of Texas and Mexico, it has positioned itself as one of the largest independent food retailers in the nation, achieving an impressive $34 billion in annual sales. Forbes recognized H-E-B by ranking it at number 6 in their 2022 list of "America's Largest Private Companies."

John Zbikowski

John Zbikowski is currently the Global Director of Human Resources at Zinpro Corporation, where he leads Zinpro’s human resources team, works on global workforce strategies, leads culture change initiatives, and manages Zinpro’s talent acquisition activities. John ensures high levels of employee engagement by cultivating inclusive, respectful, and positive work environments. Before Zinpro, John worked as an HR Manager at Cargill and TCF Bank. John holds a bachelor’s degree in human resources management from the University of Minnesota Duluth and an MBA from Capella University. He resides in a suburb of Minneapolis, MN, with his wife, Vicki, and their two children, Stella, and Evan. As a family, they enjoy being active outside, spending time with friends and family, and exploring new restaurants.