NGFA board, staff member appointed to key ag trade technical advisory committee

Two persons associated with the National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) were recently appointed to serve on a key U.S. government agricultural trade technical advisory committee.

Two persons associated with the National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) were recently appointed to serve on a key U.S. government agricultural trade technical advisory committee.

NGFA Board and Executive Committee member John Fletcher, general manager at Central Missouri AGRIService LLC, Marshall, Mo., and NGFA Director of Economics and Government Relations Max Fisher, Arlington, Va., were named to the Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for Trade in Grains, Feed, Oilseeds and Planting Seeds. The group is a joint advisory committee appointed by Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

Congress established the advisory committee system in 1974 to ensure that U.S. agricultural trade policy objectives reflect U.S. public- and private-sector commercial and economic interests. The Agricultural Technical Advisory Committees offer technical advice and information about specific commodities and products. The Grains, Feed, Oilseeds, and Planting Seeds committee will provide advice and information regarding trade issues that affect both domestic and foreign production and trade concerning grains, feed, oilseeds and planting seeds. Appointees will serve until June 15, 2023. 

Fletcher is a founder and general manager of Central Missouri AGRIService LLC (CMAS), which is a part of a larger multi-faceted agricultural business in the Midwest consisting of grain elevators, feed mills, retail agronomy, fertilizer terminals and transportation operations. Prior to becoming general manager of CMAS, Fletcher managed the trading, transportation, and finance segments of one of CMAS’s member companies. Fletcher also has served as a past chairman of NGFA’s Country Elevator Committee, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Missouri Agri-business Association. In addition, he has served as a city councilman and Mayor Pro-tem of the City of Marshall, Mo., and currently serves as the Board Chairman of Saline County E911. He received his bachelor’s degree in economics with honours at Missouri Valley College.

Fisher joined NGFA’s staff in 2013 after previously serving as chief economist for the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, where he worked for Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., while he was the committee’s Ranking Minority Member. While serving on the Senate staff, he provided comprehensive analyses of commodity, conservation, crop insurance and nutrition programs. At the NGFA, Fisher provides economic analyses and policy input on a wide range of legislative and regulatory issues affecting the grain, feed, grain and oilseed processing, and export sectors, including agricultural policy; international trade agreements; futures market regulation and measures designed to enhance customer protection; safety and environmental rulemakings; and rail and waterway transportation. Fisher grew up on a grain and livestock farm in southcentral Kansas that his family still owns and operates. He received his undergraduate degree in agricultural business from Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan., and a master’s degree in agricultural economics from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.

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