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Blake Anderson
CEO of American Dairy Products InstituteBlake 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. Prior to Fonterra, Blake spent 15+ years in leadership positions in sales, marketing and business development for Symrise, Inc., Dean Specialty Foods Group and Campbell Soup Company.
Austin Benthem
Director of Wells Fargo Bank
Michiel Beukers
Derivatives Trader at Interfood, Inc.Michiel Beukers has been working at the Interfood Group for more than 6 years in various roles on both physical and financial risk management in the dairy markets. The first 4,5 years working at Interfood’s office in the Netherlands for the European HU, trading both physical dairy products as well as all EEX Dairy futures & OTC Markets. During that period setting up multiple cross hedging strategies on the global dairy markets. Since 2021 he has been located in Montevideo, Uruguay and working for Interfood’s Americas HUB involved in financial risk management of the various product books on the CME Dairy products. Next to that working together with the commercial team to provide numerous price risk management solutions for their physical suppliers & customers.
Curtis Bosma
Vice President, Producer Services at HighGround DairyGrowing up on his family’s dairy farm in California, Curtis has firsthand experience with the many challenges that dairy producers face. At HighGround Dairy, he heads up the producer risk management team, driving success for dairy producers as they navigate volatile commodity markets using the full stack of insurance and exchange-based tools.
Katie Burgess
Director, Risk Management at Blimling & Associates of Ever.AgKatie Burgess developed a passion for the industry while growing up on a Wisconsin dairy farm and joined the Ever.Ag team in 2012. She now works directly with clients across the dairy supply chain – including producers, processors, and multi-national end-users – to build and execute risk management strategies. She also tracks on-farm margins across the US and closely monitors global milk production economics. She holds a Master’s Degree in Agricultural and Applied Economics and a Bachelor’s Degree in Agricultural Business Management, both from the University of Wisconsin.
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.
Steve Freed
VP of Grain Research at ADMISSteve Freed is VP of Grain Research for ADM Investor Services, overseeing the analysis of all market information and trading strategies for 1000+ IBs. Leading a staff of analysts and consultants, Steve creates daily short and long-term market outlooks and video clips for all agricultural commodities. Steve’s market opinion is often quoted in newspapers and business journals around the world, and he is regularly a featured speaker at seminars and workshops.
Born and raised on a grain and livestock farm in central Illinois, Steve received a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture from Illinois State University. His career began as a crop analyst, then as a grain analyst creating trade recommendations based on international and domestic crop conditions. Before joining ADMIS in 1992, he was with Continental Grain Company and later held the position of Vice President of Futures Research at Dean Witter Reynolds. While there, he sharpened his ability to create trade recommendations based on crop conditions, seasonal trends and changes in cash inputs.
Long recognized as an industry expert, today Steve is one of the most respected and followed grain analysts in the nation.
Lucas Fuess
Director of Dairy Market Intelligence at HighGround DairyLucas has spent his entire life in the dairy industry, beginning with growing up on a 200-cow dairy farm in upstate New York. Lucas is based in Chicago, IL, and joined HighGround Dairy in 2018 after six years at Glanbia Nutritionals. He is responsible for leading HighGround’s market intelligence and analysis division, ensuring that the team delivers maximum value to their global customer base. Lucas is a primary contributor to HighGround Dairy’s published content, including market analysis, market opinion, and price forecasting.
Grant Gondell
Head of Global Commodities at United Dairymen of ArizonaGrant Gondell is Head of Global Commodities for United Dairymen of Arizona. Grant specializes in financial analysis and trading with an emphasis on risk management and process improvement. Grant is adept at maintaining poise and delivering effective decisions amid highly demanding environments.
Grant received his bachelor’s degree in finance and marketing from Indiana University and his master’s in ag business and economics from Kansas State. Outside of work, Grant enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters, in their hometown of La Grange, IL.
Richard Jelinek
StoneX Independent Contractor - Global EducationRichard Jelinek is an Independent Contractor – Global Education for StoneX Financial Inc. as of January 2022, following his retirement as Vice President – Global Education, which he held since May 2015. His primary responsibility is the development of price risk management education programs and materials on Agricultural Futures, Options and OTC markets. As part of these efforts, he also highlights other forms of market risk exposure including Energy, FX and Interest Rates.
Prior to StoneX, Richard’s professional tenure included 34 years at the Chicago Board of Trade and CME Group, where he focused on agricultural price risk management training in North America, Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Latin America, Europe, and North Africa. He was responsible for the Development & Execution of the School of Futures program (for the CME Group in 2011 and StoneX in 2021), which is an introductory level education program for those new to the world of Commodity Markets.
His commercial hedge audiences include the Grain & Oilseed industry, Livestock & Dairy operations, Lumber industry, Food & Beverage Manufacturers, Importers, Exporters, Merchandisers, Producers, Soybean Crushers, Feed Manufacturers, Lenders, Academics, and Governments. As part of his passion for teaching, he served as an Adjunct Professor at Moraine Valley College in the English as a Second Language Department.
Mr. Jelinek’s Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from Southern Illinois University and Master of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Georgia were preceded by a four-year tour in the United States Navy.
Prince Jibunor
Senior Director of Risk Management at 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.
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.
Dave Kurzawski
Commodity Broker at StoneX Financial Inc. - FCM DivisionDave Kurzawski has spent the past 20 years helping a wide variety of businesses manage price risk in the dairy markets. His career began with a short stint on the trading floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange with Cargill Investor Services before he moved into the dairy sector in 2002, where he worked with Downes-O’Neill in Chicago. Downes-O’Neill was acquired by INTL FCStone (now called StoneX Financial Inc.) in 2008, just as the US dairy was entering global markets in a more meaningful way. Dave continues to help businesses manage price risk in the dairy markets as Team Leader for Dairy Risk Management for StoneX — the only global financial services firm with dairy-specific offices in North America, Europe and Asia.
Dave is also a thought leader within the dairy sector, authoring articles and serving as a media source for dairy market information and opinions. You may read his articles in Cheese Market News and Dairy Foods Magazine or hear him discuss dairy market action on DairyVoice and Dairy Radio Now among others.
Mike McCully
President at The McCully GroupMike McCully owns The McCully Group, LLC, a firm that provides strategic consulting services to dairy and food companies. The McCully Group has worked with many of the top dairy and food companies in North America as well as major global food companies. Client projects include business analysis, procurement and supply chain strategies, market research, and commodity risk management. In addition, The McCully Group has provided subject matter expertise for global consulting companies, private equity firms, and Wall Street investment banks. Mike has spoken at numerous conferences around the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Prior to starting The McCully Group, Mike worked for over 15 years at Kraft Foods where he held management roles in dairy, meat, and grain purchasing.
Mike has worked on many dairy industry issues and served on the Board of Directors for International Dairy Foods Association’s (IDFA) Milk Industry Foundation, IDFA’s Dairy Ingredients board, and the Dairy Institute of California. He has been a member of IDFA’s Legislative Oversight and Farm Bill committees, the National Cheese Institute’s Economic Policy and Legislative Committee, and the California Dairy Institute’s Producer Relations committee. He is also a member of American Dairy Products Institute Center of Excellence.
Mike grew up on a grain and beef cattle farm in north central Illinois and remains active in the beef industry through his partnerships in purebred Angus and Hereford cattle. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture from Western Illinois University and a Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Illinois.
Eric Meyer
President at HighGround DairyEric 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”.
Adnan Mikati
Director- HTM Americas of Hoogwegt U.S., Inc.Adnan Mikati is the Americas Director for Hoogwegt Trade Management, the risk management and analytics business unit for Hoogwegt. With a passion for commodities and global commerce, Adnan has spent over 15 years focusing on global commodity trade and risk management; developing North American dairy exports for Hoogwegt in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as living in Dubai and managing the sugar trade in the region and Horn of Africa for ED&F Man. For the past several years, he is managing position and price risk for Hoogwegt’s American portfolios, as well as global proprietary trading strategies.
Randi Muzumdar
Senior Director Dairy and Energy Procurement of HP Hood LLCRandi joined HP Hood, LLC as the Senior Director of Dairy and Energy Procurement in 2020. In this role, she leads a team that partners across the supply chain, from dairy farms to Hood’s thirteen manufacturing sites, to ensure superior quality dairy products. She also leads sustainability initiatives across energy and within the dairy supply chain, supporting HP Hood’s continuing adoption of the US Dairy Stewardship commitment.
Most recently, Randi was the Head of the Dairy & Foods Team for the Americas at StoneX where she managed the US-based brokerage and risk management consulting teams, focusing on: market intelligence, and holistic margin management strategies. Prior to that, she served as the Global Dairy Risk Manager at Abbott Nutrition where she developed market forecasts for global dairy ingredients, collaborated with the sourcing team on strategic pricing models, and devised strategies to help manage dairy price risk. Randi has spent the majority of her career at Kraft Foods working in various facets of supply chain and corporate finance including: FP&A, manufacturing for Cheese & Dairy and Coffee & Beverages; and collaborating with Dairy Procurement on sourcing strategies, commodity cost modeling and price risk management.
Randi earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame in Finance and Business Economics. She currently serves as a member of the IDFA Fluid Milk board, HP Hood’s representative on IDFA’s Economic Policy Committee, and is the treasurer of the Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc. Randi resides with her family in Green Oaks, IL, including two children who love all things dairy!
Geoff Price
Associate Director, MIB of CFTCMr. Price is an Associate Director in the Division of Market Oversight at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. In this capacity, he supervises the Financial Markets Unit with the Market Intelligence Branch in addition to the Analytics Unit, which publishes the weekly Commitments of Traders report.
His career in the markets began in 1985 as a Surveillance Analyst with the New York Coffee, Sugar & Cocoa Exchange. Mr. Price went to work as a Market Analyst in the Research Department of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in 1992 and subsequently was employed as a Vice President at the Chicago Stock Exchange and later as a Senior Economist at the Chicago Board of Trade. He has been with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission since 2007 in the Chicago Regional Office.
Jacob Rassner
Derivatives Trader at Prime Trading, LLC
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.
Bobby Smith
VP of Commodity Trading at Clofine Dairy & Food Products, Inc.Bobby Smith is the Vice President of Commodity Trading at Clofine Dairy & Food Products. Bobby joined Clofine in 2017 as Trader and to assist in the development of Clofine’s risk management capabilities. Prior to Clofine, Bobby worked for PNC Bank in Pittsburgh, PA for 5 years as a Senior Associate in the Debt Capital Markets division, with a focus on Oil & Gas companies. In addition to leading Clofine’s risk management strategies, Bobby’s current responsibilities include managing Clofine’s physical and financial position in all major Dairy commodities including, NFDM, Butter, WMP and Whey.
Jon Spainhour
Broker at Ever.AgAt Ever.Ag, Jon has been an integral part of the team for more than a decade, 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.
Arlan Suderman
Chief Commodities Economist at StoneX Financial Inc. - FCM DivisionArlan Suderman is the Chief Commodities Economist for StoneX Group Inc. – FCM Division, a financial services provider for global markets. Suderman oversees the company’s commodity market intelligence efforts. He provides unique market insight on global macro-economic trends and their implications for the commodity markets.
Suderman is a leading commentator in the Ag commodity sector, with particular expertise in the interaction with the broader markets.
Previously, Suderman served as Senior Market Analyst at Water Street Solutions, an agricultural consulting firm.
Prior to that, Suderman was a Market Analyst for Farm Futures magazine and FarmFutures.com, while also providing written daily market commentary for Farm Progress Companies’ family of state and regional publications and websites.
Suderman started his career with the Kansas Extension Service, developing educational programming focused on crop production, marketing and risk management. He later worked for a private consulting service helping farmers with marketing and risk management.
A graduate of Kansas State University, with a degree specializing in Animal Science & Industry, Suderman has an expertise and passion for the markets that gives him valuable insight into the realities of macro-economic trends and how they influence the commodity markets. He shares his market commentary daily on Twitter with 43,000 followers, as well as on StoneX’s Market Intelligence Web site. Arlan can be heard daily on many radio stations across the Midwest as well as on Sirius XM Rural Radio and weekly on RFD-TV's Market Day Report.
Ryan Yonkman
Vice President at Ever.AgRyan Yonkman is the Vice President of producer services and technology sales at EverAg. His focus is on leading Ever.Ag's dairy producer team in the world of managing price risk (CME, OTC, and Insurance). As a partner in his family's MI-based dairy, he frequently draws from his own experiences, naturally having skin in the game. Ryan is the co-founder of Ever.Ag technologies, software developed in-house to help dairies calculate, forecast, and track their risk going up to 2 years forward. Ryan received a bachelor's degree in business management from Hope College in 2011 where he got to "live the dream," playing 4 years of collegiate football. Ryan joined the Ever.Ag team in 2011. Outside of work, Ryan and his wife stay plenty busy raising their three children in the western Chicago suburbs.