World Grain - April 2021 - 46

Q&A

WITH
RANDY GORDON

Retiring NGFA chief executive officer reflects on his 43 years with the grain association

A

fter 43 years of service, Randy Gordon, chief
executive officer (CEO) of the National Feed
and Grain Association (NGFA), is stepping
down and passing the torch.
Gordon joined the NGFA in 1978 as its director of information services. In 1987, he was elected as NGFA's
vice president for communications and government relations. He then became CEO in 2012.
Upon Gordon's retirement in March, Michael J.
Seyfert, will step in as CEO.
World Grain recently spoke with Gordon about his
career with the NGFA and his thoughts on the association's future opportunities and challenges.

WG: What will be the biggest challenge for Michael
Seyfert as he follows you in this position?
Gordon: The most immediate challenge will be to
orient Biden administration officials and new members of Congress about the National Grain and Feed
Association and the indispensable role its more than
1,000 member companies play in storing, handling,
processing, marketing, and exporting a safe, abundant, affordable, and sustainable supply
of grains, oilseeds, animal food, and
ingredients to US and global consumers. There will be at least 60
new members of the House
and nine new senators, plus
new decision-makers in the
administration with whom
NGFA will want to meet
to present its policy priorities on trade, transportation, infrastructure, and
a host of other key issues.
That process already has
begun. With his extensive
public policy experience both
on Capitol Hill and in the private sector, my successor - Mike
Seyfert - is very well equipped to
lead this effort with our industry members
and professional staff.
46	

WG: What other key issues will your successor have
to address in the future?
Gordon: I am certain NGFA will want to play a leadership role with other national agricultural producer
and agribusiness organizations to proactively address
issues like climate change and sustainability - a big
focus of the Biden administration - as well as enhancing consumer understanding and, hopefully, acceptance
of the value of efficient modern crop and animal agriculture production practices so essential to achieving
food security. Another near-term priority is research
being conducted through NGFA's Foundation to document the contribution that the grain, feed, and processing industry - and modern farming and working lands
conservation practices - play in contributing to carbon sequestration and preserving natural resources.
Another huge issue is to keep and further enhance
US agriculture's competitive advantage in domestic and
global markets. There are numerous policies that will be
essential if we are going to achieve that one. For starters, conservation programs need to be targeted at idling
truly environmentally sensitive land versus productive
farmland. Doing otherwise will just jeopardize US agriculture's competitiveness and encourage foreign competitors to replace our production on an almost acre-foracre basis, as has happened in the not-too-distant past,
thereby threatening US economic growth, the future of
rural communities and the prospects for the next generation of producers to access sufficient land to establish
economically viable farming operations.
Keeping US agriculture competitive also requires a
robust trade agenda that enhances market access for
US products and dismantles non-tariff trade barriers,
such as unscientific and non-risk-based sanitary and
phytosanitary measures, that can shut off trade flows.
Investment also is needed in America's transportation
infrastructure - a major factor in American agriculture's competitive advantage. In that regard, there is
an urgent need to replace the woefully outdated locksand-dams on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois River
System, most of which are well beyond their 50-year
lifespan and which I have likened to a ticking time
bomb. There also is a need to instill more competition
April 2021 / World Grain / World-Grain.com

Photos courtesy of NGFA

by Holly Demaree-Saddler
http://www.World-Grain.com
World Grain - April 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of World Grain - April 2021
