Sara Wyant
Agri-Pulse Communications

Sara Wyant is President of Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc., a diversified communications firm with offices in Washington, D.C., Little Rock, Arkansas, and Camdenton, Missouri.

As a veteran farm policy reporter, she is well recognized on Capitol Hill as well as with farm and commodity associations across the country. Her newsletter and web site, Agri-Pulse, includes the latest updates on farm policy, commodity and conservation programs, trade, food safety, rural development, and environmental and regulatory programs.

She served as 2007/2008 Chairman of the Farm Foundation’s Board of Trustees, is a member of the Steering Committee for the 25 x ‘25 Renewable Energy Group, and serves on the Advisory Board of the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center at Iowa State. Wyant is a past president of the American Agricultural Editors’ Association. In 2000, she received an Oscar in Agriculture for excellence in agricultural reporting and in 1996, received the United Soybean Board’s producer communications award. She is an honorary member of Women Involved in Farm Economics (WIFE).

Sara gained first-hand knowledge of crop and livestock production while growing up on a farm near Marengo, Iowa, and is still involved with her family’s farming operation. She and her husband also own the farm where his grandparents’ originally homesteaded near Almont, North Dakota, and where his brothers still farm, raise cattle and produce honey. Sara and her husband, Allan Johnson, have two sons: Jason and Jordan.

Don Wambles
Alabama Farmers Market Authority

An alumni of Troy State University, Don lives in Troy, Pike County, Alabama where he operated the 450 acre family farm and leased another 900 acres until 1995.

The past 16.5 years, Don has served as Director of the State of Alabama Farmers Market Authority created by the legislature in 1965 and the only state agency of its kind in the United States. Through Don’s leadership the number of farmers markets in Alabama has increased from 17 in 1999 to 133 today; the number of farmers selling at Alabama farmers markets has grown from 234 to more than 1,100.

He initiated the ‘Buy Fresh, Buy Local’ campaign for Alabama and to further promote farmers markets and fresh fruits and vegetables, Don also created the ‘Alabama Farmers Market Trail’.

He is responsible for Alabama having a WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program (WFMNP) and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) and is piloting wireless EBT programs in targeted markets throughout the state.

Don has forged relationships between some of the State’s outstanding resorts and spas, nationally acclaimed chefs, food distributors and local farmers to provide them with fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables.

He has been successful in bringing more than $13 million in federal grants to Alabama that through the farmers markets have generated approximately $65-70 million that has directly benefited Alabama’s farmers.

He has been married to the former Linda Fleming for 34 years. Don and Linda have one daughter and one son and two grand children.

Chris Sutton
Pennyrile Area Development District

Chris Sutton is the Executive Director of the Pennyrile Area Development District, a nine county regional planning and development organization headquartered in Hopkinsville, KY. The Pennyrile ADD serves Caldwell, Christian, Crittenden, Hopkins, Livingston, Lyon, Muhlenberg, Todd, and Trigg Counties. The Pennyrile ADD provides crucial services in the fields of community/economic development, workforce development, infrastructure, and human services.

Sutton has been a member of the staff of PADD for 22 years, beginning his career straight from completing both undergraduate and graduate degrees from Murray State University in 1989. Sutton’s work at the ADD has spanned all areas of planning, transportation, infrastructure, and community/economic development. Most recently, PADD has conducted its most comprehensive planning effort in 40 years to better prepare the region for full participation in the global economy.

Sutton has served on numerous boards and commissions in the region over the years and currently serves on the board of the Hopkinsville-Christian County Chamber of Commerce and the Lyon County Water District.

He and his wife Denise reside on their Lyon County farm with their two teenagers Kit and Dare.

John Settles
Washington County Judge Executive

John A. Settles currently serves as the County Judge Executive of Washington County located in rural central Kentucky. John grew up on a beef and tobacco farm in Washington County. He graduated from Western Kentucky University in 1975 with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry and agriculture.
After graduating from Western, he purchased a farm and started a small dairy operation in 1977. In 1978, John married Jill Davis, also of Washington County, and they began a 21-year career in the dairy business. John and Jill were named 1983 Young Dairymen Couple of the Kyana Division of Dairymen and were recognized as Kentucky’s highest herd for milk production in the early 1990s. While in the dairy business, John served as President of Kentucky Dairy Records, Inc. for two years; served on the Washington County Extension Board; and was the Young Farmer representative on the Washington County Farm Bureau board. John also operated a silage bagging business along with the dairy operation.  In 1998, the dairy was converted to a beef cattle operation, which John and Jill continue to operate.
John was elected Washington County Judge-Executive in the May, 1998. In January 2011, he began his fourth term as County-Judge Executive. John serves on the Kentucky County Judge Executive Association’s Board of Directors as second vice president and is a member of the Legislative Review Committee.
He also serves as a member of the Kentucky Association of County’s Board of Directors, the State Animal Control Advisory Board, the Kentucky Farm Bureau Deceased Farm Animal Composting Task Force, and the Lincoln Trail District Health Board. He serves as Chairman of the Lincoln Trail Area Development District and Chairman of Central Kentucky Community Action. John is a 2000 Leadership Washington County graduate and a 2003 graduate of Leadership Kentucky.

Karen Woodrich
State Conservationist, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service-KY

Growing up in the rural Midwest on a small dairy farm and later a Christmas tree farm, I have always had an interest in agriculture and the outdoors. Originally from north central Wisconsin, I attended the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, earning a B.S. in Soil Science. I started with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Michigan as a Soil Conservationist in 1998. I worked my way up through the ranks in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois. I also spent time with NRCS in Vermont as the interim State Conservationist. I was selected as the State Conservationist for Kentucky NRCS in April 2011. I am looking forward to leading the KY NRCS staff and protecting our natural resources using sound technical practices and fundamental conservation planning tools.

Nigel Snelling
Marathon Petroleum

Nigel Snelling obtained a Business Studies degree from Norwich City College in the UK in 1974, a professional certification in Purchasing and Materials Management from the UK Institute of Purchasing & Supply in 1977, and an MBA from the Open University in the UK in 1998.

Snelling joined Marathon Oil Company in June 1981 as a purchasing agent in the European Supply & Marine Transportation group in London. In March 1984, he transferred to the London Internal Auditing group and was appointed Audit Supervisor in London in March 1988, Financial Operations Supervisor in October 1989, and Budget Supervisor in April 1991. In April 1992, Nigel was appointed UK Audit Manager. During 1994, he transferred the Internal Auditing function from London to Aberdeen, Scotland, and relocated to Aberdeen in January 1995.

In November 1998, Nigel was appointed Marathon Oil Company Audit Manager in Findlay, Ohio. In January 2002, he became Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLC Audit Manager. In October 2005, he moved to Business Development where he was involved in developing biofuels opportunities and strategies for Marathon, including equity positions in two corn-based ethanol plants and an investment in a cellulosic ethanol start-up company. In July 2011, following the split of Marathon Oil Company into two independently-traded companies, a new Biofuels and Emerging Technology group was formed and Snelling serves in this group as Manager, Commercial Development. The group is charged with screening investment and supply agreement opportunities involving new technologies that could produce biomass-based refinery feedstocks or terminal blendstocks, as well as evaluating renewable power generation opportunities, such as wind or solar.

Jon Scholl
American Farmland Trust

Jon Scholl became the President of American Farmland Trust in July 2008, after serving as Counselor to the Administrator for Agricultural Policy at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) since 2004. At the U.S. EPA, Scholl led the development of the first National Agricultural Strategy, first agricultural advisory committee and the first agency-wide cross media agriculture team. He also helped direct Agency regulations on animal feeding operations, renewable fuel standards, clean air rules, and emission reporting requirements. In 2007, Scholl provided counsel to the USDA farm bill team on conservation provisions.

Prior to his work at the U.S. EPA, Scholl was Executive Assistant to the President of the Illinois Farm Bureau, among other positions including Director of Public Policy, Director of National Legislation, and Director of Natural Resources. Over his 25 years with Illinois Farm Bureau, he worked with the Illinois Congressional delegation and coordinated several legislative initiatives at state and local levels. Scholl also worked at the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

Jon’s leadership of AFT is fitting, given his extensive agricultural history. As the nation’s leading farmland preservation nonprofit, AFT will benefit from Scholl’s impressive knowledge of agriculture, policy, and conservation issues, all of which are integral to its mission.

Jon his family operate a corn and soybean farm in McLean County, Illinois. Interested in the development of renewable energy, they have sited windmills on their farm. Jon graduated from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1978 with a B.S. in Agricultural Science. Scholl was the recipient of the University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences Award of Merit in 2008. He is the former Chairman of the Illinois FFA Foundation Board of Trustees.

Jon and his wife Joyce are the parents of two children, Jay and Jill.

Dr. Bruce R. Pratt
EKU CRAFT

Dr. Pratt has been a member of the faculty at Eastern Kentucky University for the last 24 years. Currently Professor Pratt is the Director for the Center for Renewable and Alternative Fuel Technologies (EKU CRAFT). During the three years of EKU CRAFT’s existence Dr. Pratt has assembled faculty and research staff and secured federal, state and local funds. CRAFT research focuses on the growth and conversion of biomass into cellulosic sugars used to grow heterotrophic algae to produce lipids for conversion into transportation fuels such as diesel and jet fuels. Prior to becoming Director of CRAFT, Dr. Pratt served as chair for the Department of Agriculture at EKU for six years. Before coming to EKU, he was on the faculty at the University of Maine, Orono and was a research post-doc at Oklahoma State University. Dr. Pratt received his MS and Ph.D. from West Virginia University in Reproductive Physiology and a BS in Animal Science from Delaware Valley College.