LEAWOOD, KANSAS, US — Agspring has announced two personnel changes to its Thresher Artisan Wheat Division, based in Blackfoot, Idaho, US.

Darrin J. Thomas has been named merchandising manager. In his new role, Thomas will have responsibility for buying and originating grain from producers to merchandise to customers.

Thomas most recently was senior commodity manager at Agricultural Commodities in New Oxford, Pennsylvania, US, since 2015. In that role, he led the department of commodity procurement, logistics and inventory management, and had responsibility for negotiating and executing commodity trades and sourcing. Prior to Agricultural Commodities, he was a commodity merchandiser at Apex LLC, Hamburg, NY, where he was responsible for procuring and selling mid-protein commodities such as high-quality distiller grains in the cash market, coordinating transportation arrangements and negotiating freight. Earlier in his career he was an inventory manager at Pennfield Corp., a logistics/procurement specialist at Cargill, and a distribution operations manager at Staples North American Delivery.

Thomas received a bachelor’s degree in business logistics and supply chain management from Pennsylvania State University.

Tyson “TJ” Shawver has been named to the new position of seed salesman, the first time one individual has been designated solely for seed marketing, according to Agspring.

Before joining Agspring, Shawver had been owner operator since 2017 of TJ Shawver Farms, Pingree, Idaho, US, operating a range of 350 to 521 acres. Crops included canola seed, large dark red kidney and small pink beans, food (thresher) and malt barley, triticale seed, wheat, peas and soybeans plus Kentucky bluegrass. In addition, he operated a small inhouse seed cleaner and marketed crops, including working to establish a soybean market with state of Idaho certification. Earlier, he was a fieldman/agronomist for the CHS Bingham Cooperative in Blackfoot, Idaho.

Shawver received a bachelor’s degree in agronomy, crop and soil science from Brigham Young University-Idaho in Rexburg.

“By allocating more resources in Idaho to our seed marketing platform, Agspring is taking advantage of opportunities to grow our Thresher Artisan Wheat seed business and further enhance our customer needs through the wheat genotypes they desire,” said Mark Beemer, chief executive officer of Agspring. “Thresher Artisan Wheat is a leader in sustainable wheat sourcing and production through partnerships with seed suppliers, producers and key customers. Partners include operations in elevator storage, handling, grain conditioning and merchandising.”