Kay Johnson Smith
President and CEO
"Our duty is to be honest, be truthful, and be factual in the representation of the issues we deal with."
Staff
We’re an industry-united, nonprofit organization that helps bridge the communication gap between farm and fork. We connect key food industry stakeholders to arm them with responses to emerging issues. We engage food chain influencers and promote consumer choice by helping them better understand modern animal agriculture. We protect by exposing those who threaten our nation’s food security with damaging misinformation.
Our motto is simple: Connect, Engage, Protect.
Small but mighty: We’re a nimble, dedicated team championing our mission every day.
If you'd like to have one of us speak at your meeting, check out our speakers bureau for topics each of us can talk about!
Hannah Thompson-Weeman
Vice President of Communications
"I am proud to be working on behalf of farmers and ranchers to communicate their passion for the work they do to care for their livestock and produce high-quality, wholesome food products."
Allyson Jones-Brimmer
Director of Membership
"I'm committed to getting to know our current members and growing our membership so we can do even more to support America's hardworking livestock and poultry farmers."
Casey Whitaker
Communications Manager
"It is an honor to share the stories of farmers and ranchers caring for their animals every day."
Morgan Hawley
Project Manager, College Aggies Online
"I really enjoy working with tomorrow's leaders in agriculture through College Aggies Online!"
Naajiya Williams
Administrative Assistant
"I’m excited to help the team focus on its mission and reach new heights."
Where's the Alliance this Month?
U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance Board Meeting
April 2-3
St. Louis, MO – Hannah Thompson-Weeman attending
Department of Homeland Security Food and Ag Meeting
April 11-12
Arlington, VA - Kay Johnson Smith speaking
NAMA Agri-Marketing Conference
April 11-13
Kansas City, MO – Allyson Jones-Brimmer attending
CAST presents “Scientific, Ethical and Economic Aspects of Farm Animal Welfare” publication
April 23
Washington, DC
Texas Farm Bureau AgLead & FarmLead DC Visit
April 24
Washington, DC – Allyson Jones-Brimmer speaking
Canadian Agri-Marketing Association’s Working to Earn Public Trust Professional Development Event
April 26-27
Manitoba, Canada – Hannah Thompson-Weeman speaking
Job/Internship Postings
Alliance Internships: We are currently accepting applications for an intern for the fall of 2018. Candidates should have a passion for agriculture, willingness to learn, and excellent oral and written communications skills. Interested candidates, please complete the online application form.
Fall application deadline: July 15, 2018
Board
Our board members are the visible embodiment of our commitment to change and improvement. It is through their desire and dedication, to the entire animal agriculture community—and the Animal Agriculture Alliance—that we are able to achieve our goals and effect real change.
Terry Wehrkamp
Chairman of the Board
Cooper Farms
Sarah Novak
Chair-Elect
American Feed Industry Association
Chase Adams
American Sheep Industry Association
Adnan Aydin, Ph.D
American Veal Association
Tera Barnhardt, DVM
Cattle Empire, LLC
Cliff Becker
Farm Journal Media
Pete Block
Hy-Line North America
Joel Brandenberger
National Turkey Federation
Jeff Cannon
Diamond V
Ashley DeDecker, Ph.D
Smithfield
Ed Frank
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
Jer Geiger, DVM
Genus PIC
Evelyn Greene
American National CattleWomen, Inc.
Chad Gregory
United Egg Producers
Robert Hagevoort, Ph.D
New Mexico State University
Dallas Hockman
National Pork Producers Council
Casey Hushon
Charleston|Orwig
Christina Lood
Zoetis
Suniti Mujumdar
Alltech
Colleen Parr Decker
Elanco Animal Health
Adam Proctor
Potash Corp.
Aaron Putze
Iowa Soybean Association
Dave Pyburn, DVM
National Pork Board
Marc Reiner
United Soybean Board
Janet Riley
North American Meat Institute
Rafael Rivera
U.S. Poultry and Egg Association
Tom Super
National Chicken Council
Michelle Tollefson
Bayer Animal Health
Judson Vasconcelos, DVM, Ph.D
Merck Animal Health
Josh Winegarner
Texas Cattle Feeders Association
Derek Yancey
Morning Fresh Farms
Members
The Alliance with its members are interested in helping consumers better understand the role animal agriculture plays in providing a safe, abundant food supply to a hungry world. Our membership is comprised of hundreds of individuals, companies and associations who share an enthusiasm, passion and commitment to protecting animal agriculture and preserving consumer choice in the marketplace.
Member Spotlight
PDPW is a dairy producer-led professional development organization. They are committed to providing continuing education and life-long learning to like-minded, progressive dairy farmers and allied industry. The group serves farm members from across the nation, including over 1,850-member farms from 39 states representing every size and management practice of dairying. To learn more about dairy's professional development organization, best-in-class education and unified outreach initiatives, visit www.pdpw.org and follow on social media with #myPDPW.
Are you an Alliance member?
Click here to log in to your member portal for access to all Alliance resources!
Events
Our annual Stakeholders Summit connects industry stakeholders to engage about ways to protect the future of animal agriculture! If you are interested in being a Summit sponsor, contact Allyson Jones-Brimmer.
Other Upcoming Events
Click here for a comprehensive listing.
Accomplishments
"The Alliance is about doing the right thing, and doing it right now,"
Kay Johnson Smith, President and CEO
Here are just a few of the Alliance’s most recent accomplishments. For more, view our 2017 annual report or ask any Alliance staff member for more details.
Connect
The Alliance’s 2017 Stakeholders Summit, themed “Connect to Protect Animal Ag,” was the largest Summit yet with more than 260 attendees. The 2018 Summit is set for May 3-4 in Arlington, VA!
We connect industry stakeholders via our Issues Management Committee and Supply Channel Subcommittee to discuss emerging issues in animal agriculture and plan strategic responses.
The Alliance's 2017 College Aggies Online scholarship competition is aimed at helping college students become confident communicators on behalf of agriculture. The 300 participants represented 43 different states and students generated more than 3,400 social media posts reaching 4.4 million people online and 16,000 at in-person events.
Engage
In 2017, the Alliance was mentioned in more than 662 stories in trade publications and the mainstream media.
Alliance staff delivered 56 presentations across the United States and Canada last year.
We reached 7.2 million people on Facebook and 2 million people on Twitter last year.
The Animal Ag Engage Blog reached more than 56,000 views in 2017.
Protect
The Farm Security Mobile App is being downloaded by Alliance members. The app includes farm security recommendations developed in conjunction with law enforcement and anti-terrorism specialists, as well as crisis management, employer resources, action alerts and much more!
The Alliance gets the inside scoop on animal rights activist group strategies by attending their meetings and monitoring their use of media and social media. We keep our members informed via Member Updates and Action Alerts.
We updated more than 90 activist group profile reports with information about acitivst groups' missions, connections and quotes revealing their true agendas.
The “Truth, Lies and Videotape” database is continually updated with undercover videos from the past 20 years.