Towery will lead grain, rice and oilseed merchandising strategy.
Towery adds significant depth to the Big River merchandising team headquartered in Pioneer, Louisiana, U.S., through his years of experience in domestic and export trading and logistics via barge, rail and truck. Towery will lead grain, rice and oilseed merchandising strategy and execution for the company. Towery joins Steve Henderson, vice-president of operations, on the local Big River management team.
“Working with Steve, Justin will continue driving Big River grain merchandising and superior producer customer service,” said Mark Beemer, chief executive officer of Agspring. “He will continue our legacy of adding value for producers as well as our downstream customers.”
Towery’s industry experience includes soybean processing and grain merchandising work with Bunge and Bayou Grain & Chemical Corp. and four years as owner/partner of Towery Farms in Arkansas, U.S., which produces row crops and rice.
The company also announced the retirement of Ron Miller, vice-president of business development.
Miller has been in the grain business since 1976, when he became general manager of Bayou Grain, a small grain company in southeast Arkansas. Under his leadership, Bayou Grain thrived, and in 2013 became part of Big River Rice & Grain. His experience included work in all areas of the grain business, from operations to merchandising. He remains active in the community, where he has served on many boards over the years. He now serves on the Hamburg Schools Foundation Board and is president of Mainline Health Systems.
“Congratulations to Ron for the significant commitments he has shown his community, business, employees and producers,” Beemer said. “For over 45 years, Ron taught, mentored and led numerous employees, and all have benefited in many ways by his presence while his businesses flourished. We wish him and his family the very best.”
