TOPSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, US — David Hightower, commodities and global economics expert, will discuss the ever-changing global trade conditions as the headline speaker at this year’s Unconventional Ag conference.

The event, hosted by HighQuest Partners, is planned Dec. 12-13 in Dallas, Texas, US.

Hightower is the founding principal of The Hightower Report, a commodity research and information firm that specializes in futures research and analysis. The report provides daily market coverage, hedge strategy and trading advice to four global commodity exchanges, six government agencies, 45 brokerage firms and three quote/news vendors.

Along with an overview of global trade conditions, Hightower will address regulations and flows in the oilseed and grain sector, including the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on agriculture and policy issues.

David Brown, senior vice president and chief procurement officer with Post Holdings, also will speak at the event. His presentation will address “procurement moneyball,” illustrating how to assess the value and impact of a food company’s suppliers with analytics like sports organizations employ.

This is a post-COVID examination of a company’s supply bases to determine their relative risk to the organizations’ daily operations and overall success. Brown will discuss commodities risk and food ingredients, packaging, contract manufacturing and indirect procurement.

Brown has three decades of experience leading procurement at top consumer goods companies, including Mondelez International, Conagra Brands and Sara Lee.

A pre-event workshop, Roadmap for Sustainable Sourcing Success, will be presented by Jessie Deelo, founder and chief executive officer of The Climate Source.

Deelo designs and executes strategies for agricultural systems change fueled by her experience as a commercial farmer with experience in dairy, grains and oilseeds, and organic and regenerative agriculture.

The workshop will focus on helping companies strike the balance between meeting goals for regenerative agriculture and low carbon inputs, while maintaining cost efficiencies, negotiating power with suppliers and sustaining a healthy bottom line.

Other topics to be addressed at the conference include regenerative ag demand trends; paths toward efficient monetizing structures to incentivize supply chain stakeholders to prioritize sustainable practices from farm to retail shelf; and challenges and opportunities in transportation and logistics in the grain sector.