The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) held a virtual annual meeting last week where the organization announced new leadership and annual award winners.
Members of the FY2020-21 ASTA officer team as of July 1 are:
Chair: John Latham, Latham Hi-Tech Seeds, Alexander, IA
First Vice Chair: Brad May, BASF, Research Triangle Park, NC
Second Vice Chair: Jim Schweigert, Gro Alliance, LLC, Cuba City, WI
Here are interviews with Latham and May from the 2019 ASTA CSS & Seed Expo in December.
ASTACSS19 Interview with ASTA officer John Latham, Latham Seeds (8:23)ASTACSS19 Interview with ASTA officer Brad May, BASF (4:49)
ASTA also announced the winners of its Distinguished Service and Honorary Lifetime Member Annual Awards.
ASTA’s Distinguished Service Award was presented to two industry leaders for 2020:
Mary Smith, Arkansas State Plant Board: Serving as the Arkansas State Seed Division Director and Seed Control Official since 1990, Mary is retiring this year after her long years of dedicated service during which she made significant contributions to the seed industry.
Wayne Parrott, University of Georgia: Wayne has been a tireless advocate in efforts to reach the public, elected and regulatory communities to address evolving plant breeding methods, including testifying before Congress and serving in a recent Plant Breeding Innovation session for federal regulators in Washington, D.C.
ASTA’s 2020 ASTA Honorary Member Award was also presented to two outstanding professionals:
Tom Moore, HM. CLAUSE: Tom is retiring this year, after having served the seed industry for 24 years. He has been a consistent leader within ASTA, participating on numerous committees including the Phytosanitary Committee, the International Executive Committee and the Emerging Diseases Committee. He also served as ASTA representative to the International Seed Federation Phytosanitary Committee.
Bernice Slutsky, ASTA: Having served on the ASTA staff for the past 15 years, Senior Vice President for Innovation Bernice Slutsky is entering retirement. The coordination and focus that Bernice brought to the association enhanced ASTA’s strong leadership role in furthering policy around emerging and evolving plant breeding innovation; intellectual property rights policies regarding plant genetic resources; and international trade and policy.