AgGateway Recognizes Leaders at 2016 Annual Conference

AgGateway News

AgGateway Recognizes Leaders at 2016 Annual Conference

AgGateway Press Release

At the Annual Conference last month, AgGateway honored individuals and companies that are advancing efforts to promote, enable and expand eBusiness in agriculture.

Dennis Daggett, Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at ProAg, received the AgGateway Ron Storms Leadership Award, the organization's top honor. The award recognizes repeated, outstanding efforts by an AgGateway volunteer member in promoting collaboration among AgGateway teams and advancing initiatives to enable eConnectivity. In presenting the award, 2015 Ron Storms recipient Lori Edwards of Syngenta described Daggett as a visionary who sees the broader possibilities when it comes to eConnectivity in agriculture, and a leader who is always up for new challenges.

“He actively encourages others to come to the table to participate. He has a passion for his work and for building consensus,” Edwards said. “He also has a keen understanding of government regulation in agriculture, and knows the industry will benefit by staying on top of that regulation – especially when it comes to eConnectivity. So he has forged relationships within key agencies, especially within the U.S. Department of Agriculture.”

Daggett served as chair of AgGateway’s Precision Ag Council; and leads the Insurance, Regulation and Government working group, as well as specific activities within the SPADE Project to facilitate data management in farm systems. He also is the driver for the AgGateway AgGlossary, a public, one-stop location for agriculture terms, definitions, acronyms, key words, and synonyms, for the benefit of the entire industry. He has chaired AgGateway’s Conference Committee and provided other leadership roles to improve connectivity activities and resources for the industry.

Nominations for the Ron Storms Leadership Award are made each year by AgGateway members and judged by previous award winners. The award is named for Ron Storms, who was an early leader and proponent of electronic connectivity in agriculture.

AgGateway also presented its annual AgGateway in Action Awards at the conference. Recipients are chosen by the leadership within the various council segments that comprise the organization, recognizing individuals who have moved connectivity efforts forward in the current year. The 2016 winners include Jody Costa, Marketing Director with Barcoding Inc., presented by the Allied Providers Council; Randy Fry, Data Process and Information Systems Manager of Ceres Solutions, presented by the Ag Retailers Council; Christine Dingman, 2016 AgGateway Vice-Chair, presented by the Crop Nutrition Council; Dave Surber, Owner of Headwaters Business Solutions Inc., presented by the Crop Protection Council; Mary Tangen, Product Manager at DTN/The Progressive Farmer, presented by the Grain & Feed Council; Jeremy W. Wilson, Technology Specialist at Crop IMS, presented by the Precision Ag Council; Marcia Rhodus, Retail Business Solutions Specialist at Monsanto, presented by the Seed Council; and Donald Green, Systems Analyst at Crop Production Services, presented by the Specialty Chemical Council.

Two companies, Key Cooperative and ACS, were recognized by the board of directors with an AgGateway in Action Award as having made significant contributions in 2016 toward advancing eBusiness in agriculture. They were praised in particular for their leadership on seed connectivity projects at AgGateway that have greatly benefited the industry.

In addition, President & CEO Wendy Smith gave the 2016 President’s Award to Ben Craker, AGCO Product Manager for Data, Standards & Partnerships. Smith noted that Craker has done outstanding work this year in ways that support agricultural connectivity both domestically and internationally, and with companies throughout the agricultural supply chain to the grower. 

Craker is active on AgGateway’s precision ag teams and the ADAPT Committee. He has made diligent efforts this year to strengthen communication and engagement between AgGateway and other standards organizations. He also represents AgGateway on the AgGateway Global Network Board of Directors.

Congratulations to all these dedicated AgGateway members! Thank you for all you do!

2016 December Articles