Leadership


		Steve Isaf *Chairman, Atlanta, Georgia* Steve Isaf is the President & CEO of Interra International, Inc., which he founded in 2000 after selling his previous company. He has built a reputation for innovation and accomplishment in a career in international trade spanning more than 30 years. Isaf’s company, Interra International, is a multinational food trading and distribution company fulfilling the supply chain needs of partners in 85 countries. Primarily focused on meat and poultry products, Interra is also strongly represented in sugar and other bulk commodities as well as canned and frozen fruits and vegetables. Interra’s multinational team of professionals, located in six offices worldwide, shipped more than 500 million pounds of food products in 2012.

		Mark Jagels *Chair-elect, Davenport, Nebraska* Mark Jagels is a fourth generation farmer from south central Nebraska. He runs a diversified farm that produces corn and soybeans while custom feeding cattle and managing a trucking company. Jagels serves on the Nebraska Corn Board where he is a past chairman. He has represented the Nebraska Corn Board on the USMEF executive committee, participated in USMEF Market Expos and led several USMEF trade missions. He is a former committee member of the U.S. Grains Council’s Biotech A-Team and the National Corn Growers Association’s Research and Business Development Action Team. Jagels serves on a number of local boards in the Davenport area and is a graduate of the Nebraska LEAD program conducted by the Nebraska Agricultural Leadership Council. He holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is a member of the Nebraska Ag-Builders Association. Jagels and his wife, Suzanne, an elementary special education teacher, have three sons.

		Leann Saunders *Vice-chair, Castle Rock, Colorado* Leann Saunders is the President of IMI Global, Inc., an agricultural verification solutions company and founder of the Where Food Comes From® food labeling program. Leann is chair of the Traceability Working Group. She also sits on the board of directors for the International Stockmen’s Education Foundation. An alumna of Colorado State University, Leann graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in Agriculture Business and a Masters in Beef Industry Leadership. Growing up on a ranch in western Colorado, she is actively involved with her family’s ranching and stocker operations and is part owner of the Mayfield Heritage Cattle Company in Animas, New Mexico.

		Roel Andriessen *Secretary-treasurer, Dakota Dunes, South Dakota* Roel Andriessen has more than 35 years of meat industry experience. Andriessen started in his family’s international meat and poultry business in The Netherlands, and later continued the business in Kansas. In 1978, he moved to IBP which was subsequently acquired by Tyson. Roel is a senior vice president of Tyson, responsible for the International Sales Group of Tyson Fresh Meats. A native of The Netherlands, Andriessen has been involved with USMEF since 1979 as a member of the executive committee and as chairman of various committees. A graduate of Nijenrode University in the Netherlands, he holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Washburn University in Kansas and earned an MBA degree from the University of Kansas.

		Philip M. Seng *President and CEO, Denver, Colorado* Philip M. Seng oversees USMEF operations worldwide, providing direction for USMEF strategies and priorities in international programs, research, technical services, industry relations and global communications. He also serves as the primary spokesman for USMEF and other exporting interests to government and private entities regarding international trade policy and foreign market development issues related to U.S. red meat products. Raised on an Iowa farm, Seng joined the USMEF staff in the Tokyo office in 1982, was USMEF Asian director for six years and was named president and chief operating officer in January 1990. He is fluent in Japanese, played a central role in opening the Japanese beef market, is an authority on Japan’s complex distribution system and has worked closely with both industry and government officials in Japan. His marketing strategies and approach to the Japanese market have received critical acclaim in the international business community and served as a case study in the Harvard University Business School, where he has been a guest lecturer on several occasions. Seng has also been active in a number of other organizations. As the only American ever to serve as president of the International Meat Secretariat – where meat experts from more than 40 nations regularly meet to discuss and resolve issues – Seng served four terms. He also was president of the Japan-American Society in Colorado, and has served on the President’s Agricultural Policy Advisory Council in Washington.


Norman Bessac At Large Wichita, KS	Mark Boyd Purveying/Trading Calabasas, CA	John R. Butler Advisory Dyersburg, TN	Sam Carney Pork Producing & Feeding Adair, IA	Craig Christensen At Large Ogden, IA	Fritz Giesecke Farm Organizations Horse Cave, KY	Ted Greidanus At Large Tipton, CA	Mark Gustafson Packer/Processing Greeley, CO

Kevin Kester Beef/Veal Producing & Feeding Parkfield, CA	Jay Lynch Feedgrain Producing Humboldt, IA	Maggie O’Quinn Supply & Service Organizations Woodland, AL	Danita Rodibaugh Immediate Past Chairman, Rensselaer, Indiana	Bruce Schmoll Oilseeds Producing Claremont, MN	Mike Skahill At Large Smithfield, VA	Dennis M. Stiffler Lamb Producing & Feeding Bronx, NY