Tom Vilsack to helm U.S. Dairy Export Council
The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) has announced that former U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack will join the organization as president and CEO, effective Feb. 1, 2017.
The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) has announced that former U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack will join the organization as president and CEO, effective Feb. 1, 2017. USDEC is a non-profit, independent organization that seeks to enhance the global demand for U.S. dairy products and ingredients.
“Growing the global market for U.S. dairy products is essential to the future of the dairy industry and America’s dairy farmers,” said Vilsack. “I’ve spent my career in public service as a tireless advocate for farmers and American agriculture and can think of no better way to continue this service than by leading the U.S. Dairy Export Council. I look forward to partnering with the dynamic team at USDEC as well as agriculture, food industry, and key stakeholders at home and abroad to advance the council’s mission and strengthen trust in American dairy.”
As president and CEO, Vilsack will provide strategic leadership and oversight of USDEC’s global promotional and research activities, regulatory affairs, and trade policy initiatives. This includes working with industry leaders to develop a long-term vision for building sales and consumer trust in U.S. dairy. Together with the USDEC board, he will create strategies to successfully achieve the shared vision. He will serve as the organization’s primary spokesperson and ambassador to a host of global and domestic stakeholders.
USDEC routinely partners with other dairy industry groups such as the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, the International Dairy Foods Association, and the National Milk Producers Federation to address the needs of its members, which include producers, processors and cooperatives, ingredient suppliers, and export traders. An important component of Vilsack’s role will be working with and through these organizations to achieve results on behalf of the value chain.
Vilsack will succeed Tom Suber, who served as president of USDEC since its founding in 1995, and retired at the end of 2016. Under Suber’s leadership, global U.S. dairy exports showed significant growth, rising from the equivalent of roughly 5% of U.S. milk production to a high of 15.5%.