ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, U.S. — Two National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) leaders were appointed to the U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service’s Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for Trade in Grains, Feed, Oilseeds and Planting Seeds.

John Fletcher, NGFA board and executive committee member, general manager at Central Missouri AGRIService LLC, and Max Fisher, NGFA director of economics and government relations, joined the committee appointed by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

The Agricultural Technical Advisory Committees offer technical advice and information about specific commodities and products. The Grains, Feed, Oilseeds, and Planting Seeds committee will provide advice and information regarding trade issues that affect both domestic and foreign production and trade concerning grains, feed, oilseeds and planting seeds. Appointees will serve until June 15, 2023.

Fletcher is a founder and general manager of Central Missouri AGRIService LLC (CMAS). Prior to becoming general manager of CMAS, Fletcher managed the trading, transportation, and finance segments of one of CMAS’s member companies. Fletcher also has served as a past chairman of NGFA’s Country Elevator Committee, and as a member of the board of directors of the Missouri Agri-business Association. In addition, he has served as a city councilman and Mayor Pro-tem of the City of Marshall, Missouri, U.S., and currently serves as the board chairman of Saline County E911. He received his bachelor’s degree in economics with honors at Missouri Valley College.

Fisher joined NGFA’s staff in 2013 after previously serving as chief economist for the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, where he worked for Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas, while he was the committee’s Ranking Minority Member. At the NGFA, Fisher provides economic analyses and policy input on a wide range of legislative and regulatory issues affecting the grain, feed, grain and oilseed processing, and export sectors, including agricultural policy; international trade agreements; futures market regulation and measures designed to enhance customer protection; safety and environmental rulemakings; and rail and waterway transportation. He received his undergraduate degree in agricultural business from Kansas State University and a master’s degree in agricultural economics from Texas A&M University.

The U.S. Congress established the advisory committee system in 1974 to ensure that U.S. agricultural trade policy objectives reflect U.S. public- and private-sector commercial and economic interests.