The Speakers
Kody Carson
Kody Carson serves as Chairman of the National Sorghum Producers. With his wife, Kimbra, they operate a family farm in Lamb and Hale counties in the Texas Panhandle where they grow sorghum, cotton, corn, wheat, and produce cattle on a 7,000-acre irrigated and dryland operation. Carson has over 25 years of leadership experience, also serving the cotton industry, Ag Producers Coop, state and national farm bureau committees and his local church and school district.
Kent Martin
Kent Martin, his wife, Konya, and their two children operate a sixth-generation farm and ranch in northwest Oklahoma. He grows grain sorghum, forage sorghum, rye, wheat and cowpeas, and he operates an Angus cow-calf operation. He currently serves as Chairman of the United Sorghum Checkoff Program board of directors, as a board member of the Oklahoma Sorghum Association and on the local farmers cooperative board of directors. In addition, he owns and operates a consulting business, Martin Agronomic and Environmental Consulting LLC.
Jerry Moran
Kansans first elected Jerry Moran to the United States Senate in 2010. Since joining the U.S. Senate, Senator Moran has been a leading advocate for protecting and preserving the special way of life in Kansas. He has been a leader and staunch advocate for sorghum during his tenure in Washington, D.C. Read full bio here.
Todd Frazier
Todd Frazier is the Commercial Unit (CU) Leader, Western Corn Belt. In this role, Todd leads the sales teams for Pioneer and Corteva crop protection for the Western Corn Belt CU to meet business objectives and deliver the outstanding products and services that growers expect. The CU consists of Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico.
Todd joined Corteva in 2001 as a marketing manager for DuPont CP and Pioneer following a decade of work in technical support, marketing and strategy in the crop protection industry. In his time with the company, he held several leadership roles supporting the commercial business, including sales manager & business unit director, director, Marketing & Sales Operations for US/Canada, Director of Global Commercial Effectiveness and most recently US Marketing Leader for Corteva.
Todd was raised in Cozad, Neb., and holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in agronomy from the University of Nebraska. Todd is married and has two daughters. In his free time, he enjoys fishing, biking, Husker football and traveling the world.
Reece Cannady
Cannady serves as the Manager of Global Trade for the U.S. Grains Council, a non-profit organization that promotes the use of U.S. barley, corn, sorghum and related products worldwide. In this capacity, Cannady provides trade servicing expertise to the Council, strengthens the Council’s relationships with the U.S. and global traders and further the export marketing interests of the U.S. feed grains and co-products.
Florentino Lopez
Florentino Lopez is the former executive director of the United Sorghum Checkoff Program and currently consults on international market development. He began his career with USCP as the marketing director, involved in strengthening opportunities for sorghum in the export market. Before joining the USCP, Florentino served as production manager for Texas Farm LLC in Perryton, Texas. At Texas Farm, Florentino implemented and reviewed production processes to satisfy the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the European Union Certification program, which allowed Texas Farm to export pork into the European Union and Japanese marketplaces. Florentino holds a Bachelor of Science from Texas A&M University-Kingsville and currently resides in Utopia, Texas, with his wife, Kimberley.
Brent Bean
Brent Bean has worked as director of agronomy for the United Sorghum Checkoff Program since June 2015. Previously, he spent three years as the director of agronomy for NexSteppe, where he led a team of agronomists in developing best management practices for sweet and biomass sorghum. Brent began his career serving as Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center agronomist in the Texas Panhandle, focusing his research and educational efforts on developing best management practices for sorghum, corn and wheat production. Brent received his bachelor's and master's degrees in crop science from Texas Tech University and his doctorate in weed science from the University of Nebraska.
Tim Lust
Tim Lust leads National Sorghum Producers and the United Sorghum Checkoff Program from a unique perspective, drawing on a farm background with work experience in the cattle industry and more than 25 years in the sorghum industry. He received his bachelor’s degree in animal science from Angelo State University and earned his master’s degree in business administration from Texas Tech University. Tim and his wife, Lea Ann, have two sons and two daughters-in-law and one grandchild. They live near Abernathy, Texas.