ABOUT US

Supporting Agribusiness Since 1959

Since 1959, Far West Agribusiness Association has supported Agribusiness through advocacy, networking, safety training, and ever-evolving over 63 years! 

FWAA is a membership-based association with representation in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, and Utah. Today, we have over 100 member companies, including manufacturers, wholesale & retail suppliers of crops and agrichemicals, marketing companies, feed and seed industries, mining, as well as construction companies, consulting groups, and other agribusinesses.

Our members are vital to feeding the Pacific Northwest region and the nation. At Far West, our initiative is to provide continuing education credits, safety training, and advocacy to serve the needs of our members. Increasing our value to member companies is our number one focus, providing more tools to enhance your company. 

FWAA is a 501c (6) non-profit association that protects the interests of agricultural retailers, wholesalers, and distributors. The Political Action Committee (PAC) advocates for agricultural issues in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, and Utah. Staying informed with senators and congressmen on vital issues affecting the industry.

Our association is evolving into a dynamic group and we are excited to share our growth with you. We aim to provide the latest updates, hot topics, newsletters, events, and training, we encourage you to join us in supporting the future of agriculture!

FWAA Structure and Governing Body

Our team includes Craig Smith (Executive Director), Susan Reed (Office Manager), Heidi Wall (Data Coordinator) and Errin Nelson (Events Manager). The Far West headquarters is located in downtown Weiser, Idaho. 

The governing body of the Far West Agribusiness Association includes a Board of Directors which hold the authority and responsibility of the association. Currently, the board consists of 17 representatives and 2 ex-officios. The 6 Executive board members hold chairs of the governing body including the president, 1st vice-president, 2nd vice-president, treasurer, immediate past president, and director.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Adam has worked for Morrow County Grain Growers Agronomy for 9 years. His current title is Agronomy Plant Manager. Morrow County Grain Growers Agronomy provides Crop Protection, Crop Nutrients and Seed for the local Oregon Farm market. He attended the University of Idaho and graduated with Bachelors of Science in Agriculture Systems Management, and Agriculture Economics in 2006. Adam grew up in Ione, Oregon where he graduated high school. His is married with 2-year-old son, and he enjoys the outdoors and farming community and raising a family. He would like to run for the Far West Agribusiness Association Board of Directors to give back to the Industry and make sure Agriculture in Oregon and the PNW stays viable into the future.

Adam McCabe

President
Morrow County Grain Growers

I am the PNW Sales Manager for PotashCorp covering Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. I reside in West Richland, WA with my wife Heather, our twin 16-year old and 8-year old daughters.
I have previously held positions with Wilbur Ellis, CHS and Agriliance, Oregon State University
Experiment Station in Hermiston and The McGregor Company.

Mike Baune

1st Vice President
Nutrien

Jeff Pritchard has been the CEO of Westlink Ag, based in Meridian, ID since Aug, 2016. Westlink Ag is an independent retail buying group, comprised of over 40 independent ag retailers and distributors
across the US, with the majority of them in the PNW. Prior to joining Westlink Ag, Jeff spent 15 years
running US based subsidiaries of post patent, agri-chemical companies, including UPI and Sharda
USA. Prior to that, Jeff was with American Cyanamid for 17 years, where he worked in US sales, sales
management, marketing with his last 8 years at Cyanamid spent overseas as President of regional
operations in Northern (Mexico) and Southern (Argentina) Latin America.

Jeff Pritchard

2nd Vice President
Westlink Ag

Larry Lankford

Treasurer
Valley Agronomics

Clint Young was born and raised on a Potato, Sugar Beet, and Wheat Farm North of Rupert, Idaho. After graduating from Utah State University, Clint returned to the Rupert area to work in various capacities of his Family’s Farming and Potato Packaging operations ranging from Farm Manager to General Manager of the Potato Packaging Facility. In 2005, Clint had the opportunity to move his young Family to the Lower Columbia Basin of Washington State and began working with Two Rivers Terminal as a Salesman. Clint is currently the Crop Protection Manager at Two Rivers Terminal in Pasco, WA. Clint is married to his wife Heather of 19 years and has two children, Vylett (15) and Brogan (12). Clint and his family reside in Burbank, WA. In his spare time you will find Clint in a Hockey Rink or on a Lacrosse Field somewhere in the Pacific Northwest cheering on his kids.

Clint Young

Past President
Two Rivers Terminal LLC

Chelsea has been a member of the IRM Team for over 14 years. She has worked in a variety of capacities including supply chain, compliance, event planning, fertilizer sales support, office management, and most recently fertilizer sales. She has served on the Far West board for the past year after assuming Kyle Grant’s position when he transitioned to Westlink. In her time at the Far West, she has been an active member of the Conference Planning, Agribusiness Academy Golf Tournament, HR/EE Handbook, Membership, PAC, and Scholarship Committees and is also the chair of the Winter Conference casino night subcommittee. She has never missed a meeting or call and has been able to bring new members to the Far West through constant customer advocacy of the association. She is dedicated to the Far West and is willing to be committed and offer the time and effort required to help the association thrive.

Chelsea Clark-Rodriguez

At-Large Member
International Raw Materials

I grew up in Spokane Washington and have worked throughout my career directly involved in agricultural production in the Inland Northwest.

I graduated from WSU in Agriculture in 1985. I worked for a few years in what was then Western Farm Service in the Walla Walla Valley, then began my career with The McGregor Company in 1988. My roles and responsibilities with The McGregor Company have ranged from Service Technician, Manager Trainee, Account Manager, Branch Manager, Area Manager, Business Unit Manager and now General Manager, Operations while working across different regions within The McGregor Company footprint. I am married to my high school sweetheart, Caroline. We have two grown children nearby and are blessed with four grandchildren. In our spare time we enjoy our family, our home, yard, and garden, in addition to the always challenging game of golf.

Doug Wendt

Director
The McGregor Company

George Gough manages policy and advocacy programs for Bayer Crop Science in the western U.S.  In this capacity, he works to protect the company’s business interests at the state and local level and align with our customers to promote policies that support production agriculture.  Prior to joining the legacy Monsanto Company in 1999, George spent six years with the California Cattlemen’s Association lobbying environmental quality, natural resource, taxation, transportation, and general agriculture issues before state legislative and regulatory bodies.  He started his professional career as a field representative for the California Canning Peach Association.

George earned his BS in Agricultural Business Management from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.  He is a member of Class XXIX of the California Agricultural Leadership Program and has served as President of the California Seed Association and Board Chair of the Western Plant Health Association.

He and his wife Kassandra reside in Sacramento and have three children. 

George Gough

Director
Bayer Crop Science

Jesse Larsen, Chief Operations Officer (COO) at Rocky Mountain Agronomics, obtained his Bachelors and MBA in Business Management and Finance from Brigham Young University-Idaho and Idaho State University, respectively. Post-graduation, Jesse began his employment at Idahoan Foods. Beginning as a Cost Accountant in the corporate office, he reported regularly to the C-Suite executives and quickly gained the trust of top-level management because of his ability to think on his feet, and bring valuable insights to the company. He was quickly promoted to Production Manager in Rupert, ID. Later, Jesse was recruited by Rocky Mountain Agronomics to take on the role of COO, where he has worked for the last 10 years. As Chief Operations Officer he oversees operations in all four facilities, fertilizer procurement and manages the sales agronomy team as well.

Jesse Larsen

Director
Rocky Mountain Agronomics

Ken has been the General Manager of CHS Primeland in Lewiston Idaho since September 2000. Responsible for all operations of the company. The operations include a total of 59 business units comprised of 20 Grain, 1 Seed, 16 Agronomy, 4 Retail stores, and 18 Fuel and Energy locations. They service an area from Spokane, Washington in the North to Grangeville, Idaho in the South to Walla Walla, Washington in the West. Ken was born and raised in Craigmont, Idaho and attended the University of Idaho where he received a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics. He has been married to his wife, Brenda, for 29 years and they have two daughters Allie and Jenna. Many years ago, he was a Peace Corps Volunteer (Tunisia) and once fluent in Arabic. His career has been focused on Ag Business Management and Commodity Trading. In his free time, he enjoys golfing, camping, fishing, hunting and spending time with friends and family.

Ken Blakeman

Director
CHS Primeland

 

Troy Tallman

Director
J.R. Simplot Company

I graduated from CSU, Chico with a B.S. in Animal Science and have been a part of the ag retail industry for going on 18 years.  I joined Basin Fertilizer & Chemical Co., LLC in 2012, where we service south/central Oregon and northern California as an agricultural chemical and fertilizer retailer and application company.  As a minority owner in Basin Fertilizer, my primary responsibility is fertilizer and chemical procurement.   

Kevin O’Brien

Director
Basin Fert. & Chemical Co., LLC

I am the Manager of the Agronomy Division of Pomeroy Grain Growers, a local Cooperative serving Garfield, Columbia and Whitman Counties. I started with the company almost 29 years ago as a field serviceman, working my way up to shop foreman and Assistant Manager. I was hired by the company in 2010 as Agronomy Manager. I am responsible for purchasing and marketing seed, Ag chemicals and fertilizers; safety and compliance; dispatching logistics; grower relations; maintenance and operation of a multi-service Agronomy Plant and Management of 8 employees.

I have an Associate Degree from Walla Walla Community College, and have lived and worked in SE Washington for the past 31 years. My wife Alesia and I have raised 5 children and are proud Grandparents of 3 Grandchildren with a 4th on the way. In my spare time I enjoy spending time with Grandchildren, camping, golfing & traveling with my wife.

Todd Ruchert

Director
Pomeroy Grain Growers

Hannah Kammeyer has recently joined Marion Ag Service as the Marketing & Community Engagement Manager in St. Paul, Oregon. She is tasked with providing all departments of Marion Ag collaborative leadership and management in marketing and community outreach. Between working on the family farm, universities, international cooperatives, and private companies, Hannah has a diverse background of business environments.

For the past eight years in industry, Hannah has served as a conduit between research and growers as well as an advocate for agriculture. This has given Hannah many opportunities to either work with or serve on boards, committees, and commissions. Hannah has a degree in Agricultural Business Management from Oregon State University.

Hannah Kammeyer

Director
Marion Ag

 

Matt Kincaid

Director
Helena Agri-Enterprises

Laron Knight, District Sales Leader for Corteva Agriscience crop protection business in the Northwest, Utah, and Nevada.  Held positions in Corteva Agriscience as District Sales Leader for Pioneer seed in the Western U.S. and Territory Manger Pioneer seed in Washington and Oregon.  Laron has previous work experience in farm management and land acquisitions.  He worked for one of the largest National land investment and farm management firms in the corn belt. His formal education includes a B.S. in Business Administration from Washington State University, along with a degree in Crop Science.  He grew up on a potato farm in Connell, WA where he found his love for farming and agriculture.  Laron and his wife Sonja have five children.   

Laron Knight

Director
Corteva Agri-Science

 

Aaron Esser

Ex-Officio
WSU, Ritzville Extension

Craig Smith serves in the role of Executive Director. He is responsible for the overall operation of the association and is the association’s leader on legislative and regulatory matters. Craig is new to Far West but has over 30 years of experience with Northwest legislative and regulatory issues in the food processing industry. He and his wife Susan live in Salem, OR with their boxer puppy, Rose.

Craig Smith

Executive Director
Far West Agribusiness Association

PARTNERS

Asmark Institute
Agricultural Retailers Association
Leadership Idaho Agriculture
American Seed Trade Association
National Agriculture in the Classroom
Oregonians for Food & Shelter
The Fertilizer Institute
CropLife America
Pacific Northwest Waterways Association
Washington Friends of Farms & Forests
Responsible AG
Food Producers of Idaho
Certified Crop Advisor
Washington Potatoes
Western Plant Health

OUR TEAM

Craig Smith serves in the role of Executive Director. He is responsible for the overall operation of the association and is the association’s leader on legislative and regulatory matters. Craig is new to Far West but has over 30 years of experience with Northwest legislative and regulatory issues in the food processing industry. He and his wife Susan live in Salem, OR with their boxer puppy, Rose.

Craig Smith

Executive Director

Since 2021, Susan Reed has been the office manager for Far West. She is involved in the bookkeeping and administrative responsibilities for Far West and the Far West Agribusiness PAC. Susan offers her years of experience in bookkeeping and administrative management in ag production and small business retail. Susan and her husband are enjoying their new home in Weiser, Idaho.

Susan Reed

Office Manager

Errin Nelson serves as the Events Manager. She is responsible for coordinating all FWAA events, the FWAA Scholarship program, and serves as the administrator for the Northwest Certified Crop Adviser program. Errin has over 30 years of office administration experience and has worked with Far West for seven years. Errin and her husband live in Steptoe, Washington, with their four dogs.

Errin Nelson

Events Manager

OUR HISTORY

View the timeline of our company’s history, from 1959 through today

VIEW OUR TIMELINE