Agricultural News
Beef Checkoff Loses Top Hired Hand- Polly Ruhland Headed to United Soybean Board November First
Thu, 24 Aug 2017 03:12:31 CDT
After an intensive search by a farmer-led team, the United Soybean Board (USB) has named Polly Ruhland as the new chief executive officer (CEO) effective November 1, 2017.
"Polly exceeded all of the attributes for what we as a board were looking for in a new CEO to lead us into the future," says John Motter, USB chair and soybean farmer from Jenera, Ohio.
"Polly brings a platform of experience and expertise that parallels the opportunities and challenges facing the soy industry building demand in domestic and global markets, creating consensus throughout the commodity supply chain, solidifying partnerships with national and state organizations and being an industry catalyst. I am confident that under her leadership, the soy checkoff will accelerate our vision of advancing Innovation Beyond the Bushel," he added.
Ruhland has provided executive management expertise to the agriculture community for many years. She brings an extensive background in agricultural non-profit management, strategic planning, communications and regulatory compliance to her position serving the directors of USB and the larger soybean community. She currently serves as CEO at Cattlemen's Beef Promotion & Research Board. She graduated from Colorado State University with a Master's Degree in Agriculture and University of Colorado with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Communications. She also did post-graduate work at the PhD level in agriculture and rural sociology with an emphasis on grower decision making in cooperative structures. She has served as the chairman of the Commodity CEO Roundtable, a group of CEOs in research, promotion, and marketing programs. She is an Eisenhower Fellow, a certified mediator, and holds a professional certificate in the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts.
In accepting the position, Ruhland said, "USB's innovation and agriculture industry leadership attracted me to this opportunity. I am looking forward to working alongside farmer leaders and organizational partners to take USB into a bright future."
Ruhland elaborated on her move in a post on Linked In on Wednesday afternoon- "Sometimes in life, if you are very lucky, you have a chance to go from a job you love, to a job that offers you new opportunity. Thanks to the farmers and ranchers of this country, I get to continue my service to agriculture in a new way."
Much of Ruhland's professional life has been tied to the cattle industry. She has served just over six years as the CEO of the Cattlemen's Beef Board and previous service as the vice president of planning and evaluation for CBB; senior positions in corporate and industry relations, communications and issues management at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association; and director of communications for the North American Limousin Foundation and the American Gelbvieh Association. She also served as Institutional Animal Care and Use coordinator for Colorado State University.
USB remains focused on improving farmer profit opportunities through continuous improvement in meal, oil and sustainability by leveraging checkoff resources through strategic partnerships.
John Becherer, current USB CEO, served USB for the last 23 years and positioned the checkoff for even greater successes in the future. John will work with USB to support the transition and the incoming CEO until his retirement at the end of the year.
Julie Kanak and her team based at the Chicago office of Diversified Search, a global executive search firm, assisted USB and its farmer-leader team in the recruitment of Polly Ruhland as CEO.
source- Unted Soybean Board
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