February 2009 – People and Places
Roberts Named Next NCBA CEO
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association announced Forrest L. Roberts as its next chief executive officer. Roberts, 42, started January 20, 2009.
"We are thrilled Forrest will be joining us as CEO of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. We are certain Forrest brings the right experience, vision and optimism to lead the nation's oldest, largest and most respected cattle organization," said Andy Groseta, rancher from Cottonwood, Ariz., and NCBA president.
Roberts grew up on a family-owned, diversified livestock operation in Uvalde, Texas. He worked side-by-side with his family when the operation expanded to include a retail meat market for "locally grown, corn-fed" beef and pork. Forrest went on to earn a Bachelors of Science in Animal Science from Texas A&M University and a Masters of Business Administration from University of North Carolina.
Roberts has held several marketing and sales positions in two animal health companies. He started with Upjohn Animal Health in 1992, and he remained with the company through its two mergers to Pharmacia Animal Health and later Pfizer Animal Health. In 2004, he left Pfizer to join Elanco Animal Health where he most recently served as the Marketing Manager for Elanco's Beef Business Unit.
"Forrest's agriculture background, business experience and his passion for the industry clearly made him the candidate we wanted to lead our association into the future. Forrest is a goal-oriented and dynamic leader, who will take NCBA to the next level to better serve the cattlemen of this country. We fully expect him to meet the challenges of our industry head-on with innovative solutions that will help producers succeed in the global marketplace," said Groseta.
"My roots, my education, my passion, my career - they're all linked to the cattle industry. I can think of no greater honor than to be CEO of NCBA. I look forward to working with NCBA's staff, members, leaders, state and industry partners to ensure the future strength and sustainability of the U.S. cattle industry," said Roberts.
Terry Stokes stepped down as NCBA's CEO in September 2008, after serving in the role for nearly seven years. Stokes stayed on in the role during the search and worked with Roberts through the end of January to ensure a seamless transition.
Hanford farmer Dino Giacomazzi honored for conservation tillage innovation
Dairy farmer Dino Giacomazzi, who heads up the Giacomazzi Dairy in the same Hanford location where it was established in 1893, has been presented the Conservation Tillage Farmer Innovator Award for 2009 by the University of California and Natural Resources Conservation Service Conservation Tillage Workgroup.
The award, established in 2005, honors farmers who have demonstrated innovation and leadership in the development, refinement and use of conservation tillage (CT) systems in California.
“Giacomazzi epitomizes the intent of this prestigious CT workgroup award and he continues, and indeed enhances, our tradition of acknowledging truly outstanding innovation and achievement,” said Jeff Mitchell, the workgroup’s chair, in presenting the honor.
In 2005, Giacomazzi initiated a demonstration evaluation of strip-till corn planting in a 28-acre field on his dairy.
“In his evaluation, he very thoroughly assessed all aspects of this new CT system and virtually guaranteed its ultimate success by the sheer intensity of this effort and by the comprehensive nature of his attention to detail,” Mitchell said.
The next year, Giacomazzi set out a comprehensive array of strip-tillage evaluations that included three different strip-till implements, strip-till corn varieties and twin-row versus single-row planting configurations. Later in the season, he opened his dairy for a Strip-Till Field Day that attracted more than 150 farmers to view his evaluations’ results.
“To this day, I consider this field day to be the most successful extension education event that I have been involved with during my 14 years of service with UC,” Mitchell said.
Giacomazzi repeated the field day in 2007. In spring 2008 he organized a public hearing session for the California Assembly Committee on Agriculture, chaired by Assemblywoman Nicole Parra. At the same time, Giacomazzi continued with his CT innovations on the farm, using a twin-row Monosem planter and GPS precision guidance application technologies from Trimble Corporation. This instrumentation is designed to permit precision seed and nutrient application in the same planting pass.
Klaeser Promoted to New Responsibilities with Genex
Pat Klaeser has accepted the district sales manager position at Genex Cooperative, Inc., a leading dairy and beef cattle genetics company. His new responsibilities include staff development and market growth while providing direction for cattle genetics sales and complete cattle reproductive service within the states of Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
“While an area sales manager in northeast Wisconsin, the outstanding service provided by Pat and his team of Genex representatives not only led to increased growth for Genex but also to internal herd expansion and large herd development for Genex members,” stated Dave Goedken, Genex associate vice president of domestic marketing. “Pat’s strong belief in the Genex mission – providing products and services as effectively as possible to maximize the profitability of members and customers – will now benefit producers throughout the south central United States.”
Klaeser brings 26 years of experience to the position. Throughout the past six years, he served as an area sales manager in northeast Wisconsin. Prior to that, Klaeser served as a regional sales manager for the Genex sister subsidiary, AgSource Cooperative Services, which provides agricultural testing and informational services.
Klaeser and his wife, Dawn, are relocating to the Stephenville, Texas, area.
For more information on Genex sires, semen and service, view the Genex Web site at www.crinet.com, contact customer service at 1-888-333-1783 or contact Klaeser by e-mail at pklaeser@crinet.com.
Go back to the articles page
