Tag: Gregg Doud

Doud Takes Reins at NMPF

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF began its new year with a new President and Chief Executive Officer, as Gregg Doud succeeded outgoing leader Jim Mulhern on Jan. 1.

“As NMPF’s new president and CEO, I am duty-bound to defend this industry. And because of our farmer and co-op leadership and first-class staff, we defend it well,” Doud said in his first CEO’s Corner, published yesterday. “2024 is also exciting because of the great potential we in dairy have to take the initiative. We can attack as well as defend. 2024 is going to be a great year for this industry. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share in the leadership of this journey.”

Doud has served in numerous leadership roles in trade association and government work in his more than 30-year career in agricultural policy and economics, most recently at Aimpoint Research, a global intelligence firm specializing in agriculture and food. From 2018 to 2021 he served as Chief Agricultural Negotiator for the U.S. Office of the Trade Representative, appointed by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate, where he led numerous successful efforts to create a fair, prosperous environment for U.S. agricultural exports, including the U.S.-China “Phase One” agreement and the USMCA negotiations.

Before that role, he served as president of the Commodity Markets Council, a trade association for commodities exchanges and industry counterparts; as senior professional staff on the Senate Agriculture Committee; and as chief economist for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, among other roles.

Mulhern leaves NMPF with the organization spearheading a once-a-generation update of federal milk marketing orders; with dairy farmers benefiting from a comprehensive federal safety net that features a suite of risk-management programs tailored to farms in all sizes and regions; agriculture-leading initiatives on sustainability and animal care; and undeniable progress in creating a more transparent marketplace for consumers amid the proliferation of plant-based dairy imposters, among other accomplishments.

Dairy’s Long-Term Outlook Bright, Doud, NMPF Economists Say

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The future of U.S. dairy farming is bright as global growth and American capacity for innovation and production combine to create a powerhouse, the National Milk Producers Federation’s (NMPF) incoming president and CEO and the organization’s economists highlighted in presentations at NMPF’s annual meeting in Orlando, FL.

“In terms of the world of protein, dairy is a huge part of the future,” said Gregg Doud, who will take over NMPF’s reins on Jan. 1, in remarks at the meeting, held jointly by NMPF, the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board and the United Dairy Industry Association. Doud, a former chief agricultural trade negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, said opportunities are there for U.S. dairy’s taking with robust outreach and appeals to consumers worldwide.

“My message to you today is very simple,” he said. “Let’s go. Let’s get it in gear.”

Dairy producers in the past year have faced operating margins at their lowest since the federal dairy safety net was adopted in its current structure in 2014 as prices plummeted from record highs. In a panel of NMPF economists following Doud’s remarks, forecasts showed an improving price outlook next year, even as inflation continues to pose challenges for consumers.

“We see a road to recovery in 2024,” said Will Loux, head of the joint economics unit serving NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council. “Things aren’t all roses, we still have really significant headwinds on the demand side both here at home and abroad, but we look at the world with a lot of optimism still, especially in the long run.”

The joint annual meeting concludes today.

NMPF Reorganizes Staff as Doud Begins Service

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF announced a significant staff reorganization Sept. 7 as it transitions to new leadership, with incoming President & CEO Gregg Doud beginning work with the organization as the organization’s Chief Operating Officer, a position he will hold until current President & CEO Jim Mulhern retires in January.

“I am excited to announce these changes, which will enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our organizational structure,” said Mulhern. “They also recognize the significant contributions of the affected individuals to our overall success in recent years and position the organization well for even greater success in the future.”

As part of the reorganization, NMPF named three Executive Vice Presidents – Paul Bleiberg, Shawna Morris and Alan Bjerga – as part of the reorganization, recognizing responsibilities that are expanding across NMPF teams. Bleiberg will serve as Executive Vice President, Government Relations; Morris as Executive Vice President, Trade Policy & Global Affairs; and Bjerga as Executive Vice President, Communications and Industry Relations.

Other promotions include David West to Chief Administrative Officer; Stephen Cain to Senior Director, Economic Research & Analysis; Beverly Hampton Pfifer to Senior Director, FARM Animal Care; Theresa Sweeney-Murphy as Senior Director, Communications and Outreach; Miquela Hanselman to Director, Regulatory Affairs; and Tony Rice to Director, Trade Policy. Staffers receiving title changes in line with new responsibilities are Chris Galen, who will serve as Senior Vice President of Member Services and Governance, and Claudia Larson, Senior Director, Government Relations & Head of Nutrition Policy.

NMPF Announces Staff Reorganization as Doud Begins New Role

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The National Milk Producers Federation announced a significant staff reorganization as it transitions to new leadership, as incoming President & CEO Gregg Doud began work with the organization this week as the organization’s Chief Operating Officer, a position he will hold until current President & CEO Jim Mulhern retires in January.

“I am excited to announce these changes, which will enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our organizational structure,” said Mulhern. “They also recognize the significant contributions of the affected individuals to our overall success in recent years and position the organization well for even greater success in the future.”

NMPF named three Executive Vice Presidents – Paul Bleiberg, Shawna Morris and Alan Bjerga – as part of the reorganization, recognizing responsibilities that are expanding across NMPF teams. Bleiberg will serve as Executive Vice President, Government Relations; Morris as Executive Vice President, Trade Policy & Global Affairs; and Bjerga as Executive Vice President, Communications and Industry Relations.

Other promotions include David West to Chief Administrative Officer; Stephen Cain to Senior Director, Economic Research & Analysis; Beverly Hampton Phifer to Senior Director, FARM Animal Care; Theresa Sweeney-Murphy as Senior Director, Communications and Outreach; Miquela Hanselman to Director, Regulatory Affairs; and Tony Rice to Director, Trade Policy. Staffers receiving title changes in line with new responsibilities are Chris Galen, who will serve as Senior Vice President of Member Services and Governance, and Claudia Larson, Senior Director, Government Relations & Head of Nutrition Policy.

Jim Mulhern to Retire as NMPF CEO; Gregg Doud Named Successor

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern announced Tuesday he will retire from his position at the end of this year, concluding a decade of service leading the organization and capping a 45-year career in U.S. agricultural and dairy policy. Gregg Doud, a globally recognized agricultural leader and former Chief Agricultural Negotiator for the U.S. Office of the Trade Representative, was named his replacement by NMPF’s Board of Directors later that day.

“Directing the policy efforts of the nation’s dairy farmers and their cooperatives has been the highlight of my professional career,” said Mulhern, who was asked to lead the organization in 2013 and guided NMPF through two completed farm bills, the .COVID-19 crisis, and an ever-quickening pace of change in an industry that in some ways is unrecognizable from that he entered in 1979, when he began his career working for a Midwest dairy cooperative.

Mulhern leaves NMPF in a commanding position, with the organization spearheading a once-a-generation update of federal milk marketing orders and advancing both a fairer economic and regulatory environment for dairy farmers and a more transparent marketplace for consumers amid the proliferation of plant-based dairy imposters. Through its partnerships with the U.S. Dairy Export Council and others, NMPF has supported policy changes to boost dairy exports, which are reaching records; and through its stewardship of the National Dairy FARM Program, it is enhancing dairy’s leadership agricultural sustainability and animal care.

“Dairy farmers have numerous reasons to be thankful for Jim Mulhern’s leadership at NMPF,” said NMPF Board of Directors Chairman Randy Mooney. “Jim has been a leader, a visionary, and a friend to dairy, and through that, a leader in agriculture. The combination of his depth of knowledge, his energy, and his unflagging passion for dairy producers is impossible to replace, but we all will know that his influence and achievements will resonate in this industry for years to come.”

Doud has served in numerous leadership roles in trade association and government work in his more than 30-year career in agricultural policy and economics, most recently at Aimpoint Research, a global intelligence firm specializing in agriculture and food. As Chief Agricultural Negotiator for the U.S. Office of the Trade Representative, from 2018-2021, he led numerous successful efforts to create a fair, prosperous environment for U.S. agricultural exports, including the U.S.-China “Phase One” agreement and the USMCA negotiations.

Before that role, he served as president of the Commodity Markets Council, a trade association for commodities exchanges and industry counterparts; as senior professional staff on the Senate Agriculture Committee; and as chief economist for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, among other roles.

Doud said that as the organization’s next leader, he’s excited to engage on critical issues facing dairy farmers. “From the policy arena to new technologies, there are many great new opportunities for dairy producers at home and internationally,” he said. “It is a tremendous privilege to have the opportunity in these exciting times to lead NMPF, one of Washington’s oldest, most prestigious and well-respected agricultural trade associations.”

Doud was born and raised on a 1,000-acre grain, hog and cattle farm near Mankato, KS. He is a graduate of Kansas State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in animal science and a master’s in agricultural economics. He remains actively engaged in production agriculture through partnership in a cow-calf operation and lives with his wife and two children on their horse farm in Lothian, MD.

Doud will begin official work at NMPF in September as its chief operating officer before assuming the role of president and CEO upon Mulhern’s retirement.

“Dairy farmers across the nation are pleased to endorse a true champion of agriculture, someone who both understands the hard work we do and the opportunities and challenges we face both here and abroad,” Mooney said. “NMPF has long been blessed with leadership that’s been able to take its advocacy for dairy to a higher level. We strongly believe that Gregg Doud more than amply provides the expertise, the background, and the passion we will need as we navigate a challenging, but promising, new era.”