At the beginning of 2022, the 25 companies that make up Andermatt Group were restructured.
Andermatt Biocontrol AG is now merged with Andermatt Group AG and all companies will report directly to Andermatt Group AG.
The new managing director of Andermatt Group AG will be Daniel Zingg, who has worked for Andermatt Biocontrol for more than 25 years. Founders Isabel and Martin Andermatt will remain active on the board of directors of Andermatt Group AG.
Andermatt Group now comprises 25 companies worldwide. Production facilities are located in Grossdietwil (Switzerland), Canada, Brazil, Germany, Kenya and South Africa. ●
Arama Kukutai is new chief executive officer of Plenty Unlimited Inc., an indoor, vertical farming technology company that can grow clean produce year-round, anywhere in the world.
Kukutai currently serves as a co-founder and partner at Finistere Ventures, a pioneering venture firm dedicated to identifying and nurturing promising agribusiness and food tech companies. He brings to his role at Plenty over two decades of leadership within farming, agriculture investment and sustainability, and will oversee the company’s growth into a scaled vertical farming company.
Matt Barnard, co-founder and former CEO, will continue to serve as executive chairman of the board.
Kukutai has been an investor in Plenty and a part of Plenty’s board of directors since September 2016. Prior to his work with Plenty and Finistere, Kukutai served as executive chairman of PKW Farms, a diversified investment entity involved in dairy farming and aquaculture activities in New Zealand, Asia and Australia. He also led the New Zealand government’s trade and investment agency in North America. ●
UPL has named Bryan Brochin as commercial head of U.S. agriculture.
With more than 27 years of experience in the agricultural industry, Brochin was most recently director of global bio-ag marketing and strategy at Novozymes. Previously, he held multiple commercial sales and strategy including roles for FMC, AgReliant Genetics and BASF.
Brochin holds a bachelor’s degree in agronomy crop and soil management from Purdue University and an MBA from Elon University.
Brochin will be responsible for attaining and exceeding net sales targets as well as driving annual market plans for the U.S. agriculture division. ●
Bryan Brochin, Commerical Head of U.S. Agriculture, UPL
Stoller has appointed Dr. David Zeng as general manager of Stoller China.
Zeng worked for Netafim as the managing director for China for over six years. Prior to Netafim, he held leadership roles in Syngenta as the head of sales for China. He has also held several leadership positions in commercial and agronomy areas for Mosaic and Cargill (prior to Mosaic merger) in China and the Asia region. Most recently, Zeng worked for NongFu Spring as the general manager of its agri-business division.
Zeng obtained his bachelor’s degree in ag science from South China Agricultural University, a PhD degree in soil science from UC Davis in California, and has completed his executive MBA program at Royal Roads University of Canada. ●
Dr. David Zeng, General Manager, Stoller China
Diane Bailey, the Geri Gay Professor of Communication, has begun a three-year term as director of the Cornell Institute for Digital Agriculture (CIDA). She plans to maintain current programming while improving outreach to the Global South, to minority-serving institutions in the U.S. and to faculty and students in a wider range of disciplines across the Ithaca and Cornell Tech campuses.
Bailey takes over for Susan McCouch, Ph.D. ’90, the Barbara McClintock Professor of Plant Breeding and Genetics in CALS, who stepped down as the inaugural director to lead CIDA’s new Center for Research on Programmable Plant Systems.
Founded in 2018 as a faculty-driven initiative, and recognized as part of Provost Michael Kotlikoff’s Radical Collaboration initiative in 2019, CIDA seeks to foster innovation and discovery across the life sciences, engineering, computing and social sciences to support sustainable agriculture and food systems. The institute hosts an annual hackathon that invites students from across the globe to address agricultural problems with digital tools, hosts monthly seminars and a yearly workshop to share research findings, and supports a research innovation fund that provides seed money for interdisciplinary groups of researchers to tackle key challenges. ●
Diane Bailey, Geri Gay Professor of Communications, CIDA
Ken Seitz, executive vice president and CEO of Potash, was named interim CEO of Nutrien Ltd. in early January, following the departure of Mayo Schmidt as president and CEO of the company.
Seitz joined Nutrien as executive vice president and CEO of Potash in 2019. He brings over 25 years of global management experience working across more than 60 countries, with a deep background in the agriculture and mining sectors.
Seitz brings over 25 years of global management experience working across more than 60 countries, with a deep background in the agriculture and mining sectors.
As former president and CEO of Canpotex, one of the world’s largest suppliers of potash, Seitz has extensive experience in global fertilizer marketing and logistics, and strong connections within the industry.
He holds a Bachelor of science in agriculture, a Bachelor of engineering, and a Master of business administration from the University of Saskatchewan (Canada). He is a professional engineer with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan and is a professional agrologist with the Saskatchewan Institute of Agrologists. Seitz also holds a certificate in management from the Stern School of Business at New York University. ●
Ken Seitz, interim CEO, Nutrien Ltd.
UPL appointed Mike Frank as president and chief operating officer (COO) of UPL Crop Protection.
Most recently, Frank was executive vice president and CEO, Nutrien Ag Solutions at Nutrien from 2017 to 2021. Previously he spent 25 years at Monsanto, with his initial years in sales, marketing and business strategy roles, followed by several general manager roles. He also served as senior vice president and chief commercial officer of Monsanto, leading their global commercial operations.
Frank holds an MBA from Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, and a bachelor degree in agricultural engineering from University of Saskatchewan.
Carlos Pellicer, current COO, will work with Frank for a handover of responsibilities to him on 1st April 2022 with the start of the new financial year. Going forward, Pellicer will drive UPL group's growth strategy, leading multiple projects under OpenAg, including UPL's post-harvest business, carbon and digital projects, as a member of the group executive committee to enhance farmer resilience. ●
Azotic North America has appointed Thomas Chavez to lead its global sales team. According to the company, Chavez’ appointment comes at a pivotal time for Azotic as the company accelerates the growth of nitrogen fixing Envita in existing and new markets in Asia, Latin America, Europe and Africa.
Chavez brings with him 30-plus years of expertise in global agricultural sales and business development, helping companies open market opportunities, build teams, expand and enhance distribution networks, and launch products in new markets.
Envita is a systemic nitrogen fixing solution for crops including corn, soybeans, canola, wheat and rice that fundamentally changes the nitrogen equation on farms. Applied in-furrow or as a foliar spray, Envita works from within plant cells to fix its own nitrogen and close the gap between nitrogen need and availability. ●
Thomas Chavez, Head of Global Sales, Azotic North America