This is a past event. Registration is closed. View other American Dairy Products Institute events.
Blake Anderson
President & CEO of ADPIBlake Anderson is the current President and CEO of the American Dairy Products Institute. Anderson joined ADPI with over 30 years of experience in sales, marketing and business development working for leading ingredient and food manufactures. Prior to coming to ADPI, Anderson held the leadership role of Senior Vice President of New Business Development at California Dairies overseeing the sales, marketing and business development and profit and loss responsibility for their global butter, processed fluids, cream cheese and nutritional powders business across all channels.
Anderson has also held the position of Global Director for Premium Ingredients and Customer Development for Fonterra overseeing its ingredients operations in North America, Europe, North Asia (Japan and Korea), and managing relationships with global food companies. Blake spent 15-plus years in senior leadership positions including sales, marketing, business development, HR, and general management/senior leadership roles for Symrise N.A. (President), Dean Specialty Foods Group (President), and Campbell Soup Company (various).
Bob Balgemann
President at WOW Logistics CompanyBob Balgemann is WOW Logistics’ President, overseeing several funcational areas within the company, including Third-party Logistics, Contract Operations, Transporation, Supply Chain Consulting, and Technology Solutions.
Each of these functional areas has a specific and crucial role in enabling WOW to deliver integrated supply chain solutions to our customers. Balgemann is responsible for ensuring WOW’s operating business units and professional service departments collaborate effectively and are aligned toward company growth and delivering an exceptional service experience to our customers.
Balgemann has more than 25 years of leadership experience with a variety of industry-leading logistics solutions providers, including Dell, Intel, Asurion, Clarcor, SeMaTech, and Avnet. He held various positions in engineering, operations, information technology and program management. Prior to WOW, he was with GEODIS, where he served as Senior Vice President of Operations responsible for logistics support for all high tech and health care clients.
Austin Benthem
Director, Commodity Products of Wells Fargo BankAustin Benthem is a Director at Wells Fargo’s commodity trading desk in Houston, where he specializes in assisting customers in managing risk within the agriculture and energy markets. Austin's experience spans the dairy supply chain, from a dairy farm in Northern Michigan to a processing plant at California Dairies. He has expertise in pricing from selling milk powder and butter at Michigan Milk Producers and further developed his market knowledge by trading butter and cream at Hoogwegt. A keen interest in the derivatives market led him to gain more institutional knowledge at HighGround Dairy, before moving to Wells Fargo. Now he leverages his skills to help Wells Fargo customers find custom-structured solutions for their risk management needs through Wells Fargo’s OTC desk.
Tom Cono
Director of Risk Management & Strategic Sourcing at Great Lakes Cheese Co., Inc.Tom Cono is the Director of Risk Management and Strategic Sourcing for Great Lakes Cheese, the Nation’s largest natural cheese packager. He has been with GLC for almost five years and is responsible for all commodity risk management programs as well as sourcing strategy for all food products. GLC is obviously a large buyer of cheese in the US but also has products that utilize seasonings, nuts, dried fruits, meats, sweets, and other snacks.
Tom has been trading dairy commodities and executing dairy risk management programs since 2003. His past experiences include ten years at Leprino Foods Company, three years at Kraft Foods managing all of the Cheese & Dairy risk profile for North America, and six years at Little Caesars. At Little Caesars, he was responsible for building a risk management program focused in cheese. Along with this came commodity research & reporting as well as as risk management strategies in wheat, soybean oil, corn meal, meats, tomatoes, and corrugate.
Tom has a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Metropolitan State University of Denver in Downtown Denver, Colorado. He currently resides just outside of Cleveland near the GLC headquarters in Hiram. His wife, Sheay, is also from Colorado. But they and their two Michigander children have really enjoyed the move to Northeast Ohio.
Dan Conrath
Senior Market Analyst at StoneX Financial Inc. - FCM DivisionDan Conrath is Senior Market Analyst at StoneX Financial Inc., FCM Division. With over 30 years of experience in energy and commodity price risk management, Dan has led advisory projects for Fortune 500 food & beverage companies and many of the largest energy utilities in the U.S. He is a regular instructor in energy price risk management education and has presented risk management topics before corporate boards and city/state regulators. Dan has significant practical experience in guiding companies on the best application of risk management methodologies for their respective cultures and risk tolerances. Dan was a founding partner of Risk Management Incorporated which became part of StoneX Financial Inc., FCM Division, in 2010.
His team executes of approximately $16 billion (notional value) in commodity contracts for clients each year. Dan holds a BS from the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign).
Sara Dorland
Managing Partner at Ceres Dairy Risk Management LLCSara Dorland, is the managing partner at Ceres, a company specializing in providing risk management, market research and financial consulting services to agriculture and food-based businesses. Sara works throughout the dairy supply chain including dairy producers, cooperatives, manufacturers and consumer products companies. Her interactions have involved a broad array of hedging activities, go to market techniques, as well as education, analysis and consulting on a wide variety of dairy industry topics.
Sara lives with her husband and two daughters in Hailey, Idaho.
Ed Gallagher
President, DFA Risk Management at Dairy Farmers of America, Inc.As president of DFA Risk Management, Ed leads the DFA division that offers price risk management programs to members, DFA-owned plants and business units and their customers. He is also responsible for DFA’s Federal Dairy Revenue Protection and other crop insurance programs. He leads DFA’s Federal Order policy initiatives and serves on its Strategic Planning Committee, Enterprise Risk Management Executive Committee and was a founding member of DFA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council.
Ed has worked in the dairy industry his whole life, having been raised on his family’s dairy farm in central New York. He spent 13 years at the Northeast Milk Market Administrators office and joined Dairylea Cooperative Inc. in 1996 where he served in a variety of senior management roles. He has been in his present role since 2010.
Ed is a frequent industry speaker imparting his knowledge of milk pricing, risk management and the dairy industry. He is a member of the National Milk Producers Federation board of directors. He serves on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Agricultural Advisory Committee, the Risk Management Committee for the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, the National Milk Producers Federation Cheese Pricing Task Force and its Federal Order Task Force, and the New York Commissioner of Agriculture’s Milk Marketing Advisory Council. He also has testified before the House and Senate Agriculture Committees on milk pricing and risk management issues and has been an expert witness at a variety of milk pricing regulatory and legal matters. He holds a BS degree from Cornell University and an MS degree from The Ohio State University.
Ed and his family live in Manlius, NY
Arvind Goyal
Vice President, PPI at WOW Logistics CompanyArvind Goyal leads WOW Logistics’ Project Planning and Implementation (PPI) Department which delivers advanced supply chain solutions.
Goyal oversees new operational opportunities, providing a robust structure to each phase of the process and ensuring each function is fully supported and equipped with the tools, skillsets, practices, and procedures needed to deliver exceptional service.
Prior to WOW Logistics, Goyal was with XPO Logistics Inc. since 2017, serving as Director of Solutions Engineering, Operations Excellence, Systems Deployment and Testing, Process development, and Training and, most recently, Executive Director of Solutions/Process Engineering, Continuous Improvement, Project Management, Systems, and Process Enhancements. He oversaw multiple sites across the nation serving world-renowned brands and Fortune 500 companies. Goyal was responsible for leading the implementation of logistics operations, overseeing new facility launches, and building effective performance indicators. He used Lean Six Sigma methodology to coach employees to exceed productivity and quality metrics and drive continuous improvement and operational excellence. Goyal holds a bachelor’s degree in production engineering, a master’s degree in manufacturing systems engineering, and an MBA in supply chain and finance. Additionally, he holds certifications in Lean Six Sigma.
Christopher Herlache
Risk Strategies Manager at Schreiber Foods Inc.Chris has been involved with the dairy industry his entire life. Growing up on a dairy farm, he learned the fundamentals of dairy farming from the ground up. Chris attended the University of Wisconsin, where he received his degree in Agricultural and Applied Economics in 2000 and has been working for Schreiber Foods since 2000 where he has led the company’s risk management and dairy economic responsibilities since 2003. In this role he has been developing dairy risk management strategies and programs for some of the world’s largest foodservice and retail companies. In addition to these responsibilities, Chris has been involved in US dairy pricing and policy discussions, along with helping to educate and improve dairy spot and futures markets in the US and Europe.
Dave Hightower
Founding Principal at The Hightower ReportAs a founding principal of The Hightower Report, Dave Hightower analyzes the energy, metals, equity index, currency & bond markets daily.
Dave has over 30 years experience in the commodity and financial futures industry. Before starting The Hightower Report, Dave was the Director of Research for the (then) largest commodity brokerage firm in the United States, Stotler & Company. Prior to this, Dave was one of the first paid full time stock index futures analysts and has since covered the stock market on a daily basis.
Dave has provided research interviews to CNN, Bloomberg Television, the Wall Street Journal, Futures Magazine and many other industry groups/publications. Dave has worked with regulatory agencies, exchanges and other industry players on a wide variety of research and trading projects. He also educates commercial traders in basic and advanced hedging techniques.
Prince Jibunor
Senior Director of CargillPrince Jibunor is a senior director supporting North America agriculture for Cargill Risk Management, which provides risk management solutions to help customers mitigate risk and volatility, reduce costs and diversify their portfolios to navigate uncertainty. His key focus is leading the North America dairy strategy and commercial risk management.
Prince has been with Cargill for eight years, starting in the financial analyst rotational program where he led in several capacities including Strategy and Development, Treasury and Cargill Risk Management. In 2015, Prince began working in Cargill Risk Management as an associate director. His commitment to being a visionary leader, strategic advisor, and trusted collaborator has advanced Cargill’s impact across the
Ag/Dairy supply chain. Today, Cargill Risk Management is a leader in providing commodity price risk management strategies using tailored solutions that are unique to the goals, industries, and market biases of their customers.
He is based in Hopkins, Minnesota.
Howard Kamerer
CEO and Chairman of the Board at WOW Logistics CompanyKamerer earned his bachelor’s (1990) and master’s (1991) degrees in communications studies from Eastern Illinois University. In 2007, Kamerer was named one of the top 50 graduates in the history of Eastern Illinois University’s Graduate Studies Program.
• Shareholder Partner, President, and CEO of WOW Logistics
• Former President and CEO at Startec Global Communications
• Former COO and President at Allied Telesyn US and European Operations
• Former Founder, President, and CEO at Redeye Network Group
During the past 25 years, Kamerer has repeatedly started, grown, and developed a variety of companies in various markets, generating the same results - consistent exponential growth. His approach relies on the development of corporate value propositions and company goals.
In 2015, Kamerer founded WOW – WE CARE CHARITY, Inc. to serve communities in which WOW Logistics does business. Today, Kamerer calls the Black Hills of South Dakota “home” with his wife Laura and enjoys motorcycles and off-roading.
Anne Krema
Director, Research & Product Development of CME GroupAnne Krema currently serves as Director of Research and Product Development at CME Group. She is responsible for maintaining the current livestock, dairy, and weather product offerings, as well as researching potential new products. Since joining CME Group, Anne has worked closely with commercial market participants in the agricultural space to ensure that the Exchange continues to serve as an effective venue for risk management for the hedging community. Anne grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago and studied Economics and Statistics at the University of Michigan.
Mary Ledman
Global Dairy Strategist at Rabobank InternationalMs. Ledman has more than 20 years of experience in the dairy industry that includes production, processing and policy. She grew up on a dairy farm in southern Wisconsin and has worked on farms in Germany, Japan and New Zealand. Her past work experience includes the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Kraft and Stella Foods. In 1995, she founded Keough Ledman Associates, a dairy economic consulting firm that provides monthly dairy product and milk price forecasting, economic and policy analysis, dairy product and milk sourcing strategies and domestic and international dairy market information. In 2012, she acquired the Daily Dairy Report. She received a master’s of science degree in agricultural economics from Texas A&M University and also received a Fulbright Fellowship to study the European Community’s dairy policy in Germany.
Tyler Lenz
Chief Financial Officer at WOW Logistics CompanyTyler Lenz is WOW Logistics’ Chief Financial Officer overseeing the Accounting, Finance, Process Improvement, Real Estate Development, Inventory Solutions, Human Resources, and Legal teams.
Under Lenz’s leadership, each team provides critical operational support functions to WOW’s strategic business units. Oversight of these areas requires fostering alignment and collaboration among each functional area to achieve the company’s goals and objectives.
Lenz also develops and executes WOW Logistics’ financing strategy to support growth needs, including infrastructure development and acquisitions. Additionally, alongside the Real Estate Development team, Lenz engages with customers to develop comprehensive real estate solutions.
Prior to his current role, Lenz served as VP of Finance, Director of Finance, and Finance Manager at WOW Logistics. Before joining the company, he was an Institutional Investment Consultant for Morgan Stanley, where he provided investment and asset allocation strategies to pension funds, endowments, and high-net-worth individuals. Lenz also worked as a Cash Manager for WEC Energy Group, where he managed daily cash operations.
Jim Matthews
Senior Director, Global Grain and Feed of Ever.AgJim Matthews is the Senior Director of Global Grain and Feed at Ever.Ag, managing the Feed Foundations program alongside grain, dairy, and livestock producer teams. Before joining Ever.Ag, Jim worked at a global FCM within its commercial division. His first 10 years were spent on the CBOT trading floor, managing grain and oilseed risk for commercial traders. Jim then pivoted to the proprietary trading sector to expand his knowledge in the trading and clearing industry, before returning to corporate hedgers as the firm’s US head of agriculture. Jim graduated from Miami University (OH) with majors in history and political science. Jim now lives in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood with family.
Mike McCully
President at McCully ConsultingMike McCully is currently the president and owner of McCully Consulting, a strategic consulting firm focusing on dairy and food companies. He has experience in business analysis, long-term strategic planning, purchasing strategies, risk management policies/procedures, Mergers & Acquisitions, and supply chain issues/opportunities.
His past experience includes over 15 years with Kraft Foods where he held management roles in dairy, meat and grain purchasing. His responsibilities included sourcing dairy commodities as well as commodity risk management, dairy policy and industry relations. While in the Oscar Mayer division of Kraft, he was also responsible for meat commodity risk management and corn purchasing. His knowledge base also reaches into dairy policy and price volatility issues.
Mike holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture from Western Illinois University and a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Illinois.
Mike has been a member of ADPI’s Center of Excellence for several years, and is actively engaged in the Institutes events and activities including Dairy Ingredient Training Courses.
Eric Meyer
President at HighGround Dairy- Outlook, Purchasing & Hedging of Butter, Nonfat Dry Milk and Class IV Milk
- Understanding Technical Analysis 101
Eric has over 21 years of experience in dairy procurement and price risk management, beginning his career in 2001 at Downes-O’Neill, one of the dairy industry’s founding futures and options brokerage firms. From there, Eric has also built his career experience at the Sara Lee Corporation (2006-2008), FCStone (2008-2010) as well as Winona Foods (2011-2012) before founding HighGround Dairy in 2012.
HighGround Dairy may be best known for its comprehensive global dairy market intelligence but has made a name for itself with superior futures & options execution across the major global dairy derivatives exchanges (CME/SGX/EEX). HighGround also adds value to its customers through its hedge education/advisory services along with insurance product offerings for US dairy producers. HighGround has quickly become a firm that the global dairy industry turns to for market and price risk management expertise, empowering its customers to “Thrive in Dairy”.
Jared Morgan
Vice President, Global Education at StoneX Financial Inc. - FCM DivisionJared trains both producers and consumers commodities from around the globe on using financial contracts to manage their price-risk. Benefitting from years of personal experience in production agriculture and financial markets, Morgan creates interactive training programs designed to introduce financial tools, proven techniques, and challenge students to consider all possible outcomes when developing and analyzing risk-management strategies.
Ronald Kevin O'Brien II
President at Nui MarketsRonald Kevin O'Brien II is an accomplished leader who serves as the President at Nui Markets North America. Ron spearheads the North American Operations of Nui Markets. He is integral to the growth of both the Enterprise and Marketplace digital sales and procurement platforms with his keen understanding of what steps are necessary to integrate Nui into the daily operations of Dairy market participants.
Before joining Nui, Ron spent nine years at Interfood, where he held the position of Global Derivatives Director & Vice President of Interfood INC. During his tenure, he successfully developed and implemented risk management strategies, analytics, and derivative solutions. Ron played a key role in trade origination and execution, developing the value proposition for derivatives, overseeing and advising Interfood Americas' position management, and providing advisory services to the Interfood Global position committee.
Having an extensive background in hedging commodity market and basis risk, Ron specializes in establishing physical and financial liquidity in dairy market trading. His expertise spans over two decades, during which he has consistently brought innovative risk and opportunity management strategies to stakeholders and shareholders throughout the value chain.
In addition to his professional achievements, Ron holds a finance degree from the University of Florida. He also has a distinguished military background, having served as a Sergeant in the United States Marines infantry, with a deployment to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Ron is happily married to his college sweetheart, Hillary, who currently serves as the Chief of Audiology for the University of Miami. As a devoted father of two, Ron finds joy in his family life while continuing to make significant contributions to the industry.
Ronald Kevin O'Brien II exemplifies leadership, expertise, and a commitment to driving innovation and growth within the dairy market. His diverse experiences, both in the corporate arena and the military, have shaped him into a versatile and accomplished professional. Through his strategic vision and dedication, Ron consistently delivers value and creates impactful change within his industry.
Mark Russo
Chief Science Officer at Everstream AnalyticsMark is the Chief Science Officer at Everstream Analytics, who sets the global supply chain standard by delivering predictive insights and risk analytics. Based in Chicago, he co-leads the Applied Meteorology team to ensure weather/climate data quality and accuracy and customer-focused impacts for supply chains, logistics, business operations, and commodity hedging/trading. He also is an American Meteorological Society Certified Consulting Meteorologist.
After graduating from Northern Illinois University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Meteorology, Russo has spent the past two decades applying global weather and climate to supply chains, agriculture, and energy. Prior to joining Riskpulse in 2013 which later became Everstream, Russo worked for Chesapeake Energy and Citigroup/Smith Barney where he provided accurate and timely weather forecasts and noted climate trends directly to high stakes commodity hedgers, traders, brokers, and analysts. He also has appeared on CNBC, the Today Show, and CNN and currently is a weekly guest on Illinois Public Radio’s Closing Market Report.
Throughout his professional career, Russo has been active in the American Meteorological Society. Not only has he served in the private sector mentorship program and on the energy committee but also as President of the local Chicago Chapter. Additionally, he has advised the National Academies of Science/National Research Council regarding NOAA weather and climate data and has presented to numerous agriculture and energy associations. Outside of work, Mark is a huge sports fan, especially baseball, and resides in the western suburbs of Chicago with his wife and three children.
Sarina Sharp
Daily Dairy Report, Inc.For more than a decade, Sarina Sharp has studied the crop and livestock markets, advising farmers on how to use futures, options, and cash markets to manage their risk. She primarily works with dairy producers in the Midwest and contributes regularly to dairy publications, including the Daily Dairy Report. Sarina lives outside of Grand Rapids, Michigan, with her husband Benny and their three children.
Jon Spainhour
Senior Commercial Advisor at Ever.AgAt Ever.Ag, Jon has been an integral part of the team for over 18 years, focusing on NFDM and whey markets. He has extensive experience in developing hedging and general merchandising (cash and carry) programs as well as options strategies. He also focuses on educating clients on the dairy markets, new business development, and studying international price relationships. He currently writes about NFDM and whey markets for the weekly Dairy Market Digest. Jon came to Ever.Ag in 2005 from Cargill Investor Services, where he was the dairy floor Operations Manager on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and became a partner of Rice Dairy in 2006. He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky, where he received his Bachelor of Science in Finance.