41st Annual Meeting Speakers
Our 2012 Keynote speaker, Chris Beytes, Editor of GrowerTalks and
Green Profit magazine and contributing editor
of FloraCulture International, published in
the Netherlands. He’s also the author of the
weekly news and commentary e-mail Acres
Online, which reaches almost 20,000 floriculture
professionals around the world. He has 29
years experience in the floriculture industry,
including 19 years with Ball Publishing. He holds a journalism
degree from the University of Florida and a minor in ornamental
horticulture, and for nine years ran his own wholesale greenhouse
business in central Florida. Chris travels extensively in North
America and around the world, reporting on the latest in greenhouse
and garden center trends, innovations and ideas.
David T. Crow
David Crow founded DCLRS in 1991 and built
a talented team specializing in policy areas
including agriculture, climate, energy, international,
labor/immigration, pesticides, fertilizers,
small business, transportation and infrastructure,
and water policy.
David developed a wide range of contacts and knowledge
working for Rep. Tom Coleman (R-MO), Secretary of Agriculture
Jack Block, the Fertilizer Institute, the National Council of
Farmer Cooperatives and the Jefferson Group. He also speaks to
a wide range of industry audiences. He continues to be deeply
engaged in the political process on issue areas that impact our
members. David also worked on several presidential and congressional
campaigns in order to connect to the political process.
Russell V. Davis
In 1996 After 20 years in the telecom industry,
Russ began experimenting with yard debris recycling
for a few years outside Portland and began
recycling and composting at Threemile Canyon
Farm, a massive dairy complex in eastern Oregon.
Over a decade later, Organix has since processed
billions of pounds of dairy residuals in Yakima County, Washington.
The Company sells its branded compost, PowerPlant, regionally
to over 100 wholesale clients making it the largest dairy based composting
company in the northwest. Organix has nineteen large dairy clients
in the region and works continually with regional milk producers on
finding creative ways to solve waste and nutrient challenges.
In 2006, Russ began developing a peat alternative called RePeet
from anaerobically digested dairy manure that has resulted in a patented
process called FibeRite. Most recently, he has invented a system
that both anaerobically digests and aerobically composts dairy manure
in the same system. Organix projects have been featured in BioCycle,
the Oregonian, the Portland Business Journal, the Sustainable Industries
Journal, Waste News, the Capital Press, Digger Magazine, Yakima
County Herald, and the East Oregonian.
David Beaudreau
David Beaudreau, Jr., joined DCLRS in March
of 2009. David represents a number of a clients
on agricultural and energy issues, including the
Wood Fiber Coalition, of which the Mulch and
Soil Council is a member. The primary goal of
the Wood Fiber Coalition is to protect access
to renewable/ woody biomass for the coalition
member companies.
Before joining DCLRS, David worked on the Obama-Biden
Campaign for Change in Stark County, Ohio from July 2008 through
the election. He was instrumental in organizing volunteer teams that
called over 20,000 people and canvassed over 6,600 houses.
Prior to his work on the campaign, for three years, David
worked as a Legislative Assistant in the government relations firm
of Morgan Meguire, LLC where he handled a variety of energy
and environmental legislation. Previously, David interned in the
Congressional office of then-Congressman Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
and was a volunteer in the Kerry/Edwards Campaign Headquarters
in Kent, Ohio during the fall of 2004.
A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, David earned a B.A. in
Political Science from Allegheny College, in Meadville, Pennsylvania. David also has an M.P.S. in Political Management from George
Washington University.
Darrel Penn
Darrel Penn has been the Manager of Business Development
for the Atlanta office of C.H. Robinson
Worldwide, Inc., since February 2006. Mr. Penn
joined C. H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. in October
of 1997. After beginning his career as a transportation sales representative,
he has held various roles including leadership positions in
Southeast regional operations and customer service. From November
of 2004 until February of 2006 Mr. Penn served as an on-site resource
imbedded into the operations of a Fortune 500 consumer products
manufacturing client. Mr. Penn earned his Bachelor of Science in
Management from the Scheller College of Business at the Georgia
Institute of Technology in Atlanta GA.
Josiah Hunt
After graduating from University of Hawaii at
Hilo in 2004 with a degree in Agroecology and
Environmental Quality, Josiah Hunt began a
landscape/farmscape business by the name of
Landscape Ecology. Then in 2008, his work
with biochar began, first as Landscape Ecology
then, in 2011 under the new title of Hawaii Biochar Products LLC.
In 2010 he began an organic papaya trial that has proven to be a
very educational and even semi-successful experience. The work
with biochar has far surpassed any other work in his life, since 2008
it has been the primary focus of his career and has proven to be a
very exciting choice.
Dr. Robert Abt
Bob Abt is a professor of Forestry in the Department
of Forestry and Environmental Resources
at North Carolina State University in
Raleigh. His research specialties are regional
timber supply modeling, economics of agroforestry
and econometric applications in forestry.
Bob has been monitoring and modeling the impact
of biofuels and pellet production on forest
resources management and will address the current and future
consumption of resources for bioenergy programs in the U.S.
Dr. Bill Fonteno
Dr. William (Bill) Fonteno is an award
winning researcher and teacher at North
Carolina State University. He is the
Director of the Horticultural Substrates
Laboratory at NCSU. He has worked on
soils and mulch related problems in over
20 countries for 36 years. Bill serves as
the Technical Advisor for the Mulch and
Soil Council and is the Director of the Certification Program for
the MSC.
In-Plant Meeting Flyer