People

Marcos Loman, Ph.D., serves as a Technical Agronomist at BRANDT Discovery & Innovation, focusing on advancing efforts in crop nutrition, fertilizer management, and soil fertility to improve crop yield and agricultural sustainability. He earned his bachelor’s degree in agronomy from the University of São Paulo, Brazil, and Wageningen University, The Netherlands, and completed his doctorate at the University of Illinois.

Aaron is the Director of Nutrient Management and Ag Policy for the Ohio AgriBusiness Association. He also serves as the Executive Director of the Nutrient Stewardship Council.  Prior to joining OABA, he was the Project Manager for the Blanchard River Watershed Demonstration Farms Network. He is a Certified Crop Advisor and also a certified conservation planner with a specialty in nutrient management planning. He is a Technical Service Provider for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, providing guidance to producers with nutrient management and headquarters evaluation. Aaron and his wife Sarah have a grain farm in Shelby County, Ohio as well as a winegrape vineyard. They have 4 young boys, Will, Eli, Luke and Zeke.

Murali is presently the Senior Vice President & Global Commercial Head at Yara Clean Ammonia. Previously he had served as the Vice President of Yara’s Ammonia Trade and Shipping Business, based in Geneva, Switzerland. Murali also has served as the Chief Financial Officer for Yara’s Crop Nutrition and Industrial Segments during the period 2010-2016. He started his career in Investor Relations when Yara was publicly listed in March 2004.

Murali has a Ph.D. in Plant Biotechnology from the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC, Canada. In addition, he has a MBA degree from the Norwegian School of Management BI and is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School through the General Management Program (Executive Education)

Angelo Salton is Commodity Analyst, Sulfuric Acid at S&P Global Commodity Insights. Angelo is based in Brazil and has previous experience in covering regional fertilizer markets, including price reporting, market modelling and forecasting. Prior to his role at S&P Global, he worked at farming companies, in consultive roles, particularly in the procurement of ag inputs. He holds a Ph.D in Macroeconomics at Universidade Federal de Vicosa.

Crystal Carpenter is currently a market analysis manager with The Mosaic Company covering fertilizer, agriculture, and macroeconomic markets.  Mosaic is a key global producer of phosphates and potash, and as such, a significant portion of her focus centers around analyzing the market dynamics of these macronutrients.  After obtaining her master’s degree in Agricultural Economics from Michigan State University, Crystal served as a VP of agribusiness consulting at Informa Economics (now S&P Global), where she provided analytic and strategic insight for businesses across a vast array of agriculture and bioenergy sectors for over 10 years.  Following her time at Informa, she worked as a market analyst within CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange Division, covering specialty crop markets (fruits, nuts, and vegetables).

Dr. Kevin Caffrey is a Senior Agronomist with Simplot Grower Solutions, covering the Eastern Cornbelt. He received his PhD from North Carolina State University in Biological & Agricultural Engineering before starting his professional career with BASF on their Technical Services team. Dr. Caffrey has worked as a technical expert throughout most cropping systems in the USA, covering the Mid-South, California/Arizona, and portions of the Midwest & East Coast. He has extensive experience launching innovative crop production products including fungicides, herbicides, insecticides and miticides. His passion is in education and knowledge transfer, assisting teams to solve complex problems and communicate these solutions to a broad audience. Dr. Caffrey’s diverse background and track record of success allows him to assist in supporting various functional teams within the Simplot Grower Solutions organization.

John Gorsuch has been with BiOWiSH Technologies for over ten years and has served as their Director of Research and Development since December 2019. He has published several peer-reviewed publications on laboratory methods for microbial fertilizer enhancements, including plate counting assays, real-time PCR, and preservative efficacy tests. An advocate for science-based regulation of microbial fertilizer enhancements in the United States and abroad, John serves as Chair of The Fertilizer Institute’s Microbiological Laboratory Methods Task Force, as Convener of ISO Technical Committee 134, Working group 5, and is also involved with efforts to establish a Methods Portal through the American Association of Plant Food Control Officials. 

Boris Napadensky is the Director of Fertilizers at Crystal Element, Inc., specializing in the sales of water-soluble fertilizers in the U.S. market. With over 20 years of experience in the chemical and bioprocessing industries, Boris applies his extensive knowledge of chemistry to understand the molecular properties of water-soluble fertilizers and their impact on diverse agricultural applications. His expertise enables him to tailor solutions that optimize plant nutrition and support cost-effective farming practices. Boris holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Northeastern University, grounding his work in a strong foundation of chemical science.

Mark Tully is the Manager of Global Market Research at Nutrien covering the Agricultural and Fertilizer industries, inclusive of Nitrogen, Phosphate and Potash fertilizers. In his role Mark focuses on macro supply and demand trends driving the ag-industry. Mark has worked at Nutrien for ~7 years in several roles. Prior to his time at Nutrien Mark worked across a number of other industries and earned a Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of Calgary, and is completing an MBA. Mark and his family currently reside on their hobby farm near Calgary AB, Canada.

Nate Kauffman is Senior Vice President and Omaha Branch Executive at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. In his role as the Kansas City Fed’s lead economist and representative in the state of Nebraska, Nate provides strategic direction and oversight for the Omaha Branch, regional research, and economic outreach throughout the state. He serves as a local connection to the nation’s central bank and is responsible for briefing the Kansas City Fed’s president – a member of the Federal Open Market Committee – on regional economic and business activity.

In addition, Nate is the Kansas City Fed’s principal expert in agricultural economics. He is a leading voice on the agricultural economy throughout the seven states of the Tenth Federal Reserve District and the broader Federal Reserve System. Nate oversees several Bank and Federal Reserve efforts to track agricultural economic and financial conditions. He also speaks regularly on the agricultural economy to industry audiences and the news media, including providing testimonies at both U.S. Senate and U.S. House Agriculture Committee hearings.

Nate joined the Federal Reserve in 2012. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Iowa State University. Prior to receiving his Ph.D., Nate spent three years in Bosnia and Herzegovina coordinating agricultural economic development projects.

Nate lives in Omaha with his wife and four children.