The Renewable Fuels Association honored Ryland Utlaut, chairman of the board of the National Corn Growers Association and a Missouri corn grower, for his leadership and commitment to expanding the production and domestic use of ethanol.  Utlaut was praised for leading a successful effort to extend the federal ethanol tax incentive last year.

Shelly Roy has been named political action committee director and Bryan Dierlam associate director of agricultural and marketing policy for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.  Roy has been finance director for Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO) where she managed fund raising activities for Campbell's re-election campaign.  Dierlam worked most recently for congressional candidate Loy Sneary of Texas as a legislative assistant for agricultural policy.  He also worked for several years for Koch Industries in Kansas, conducting commodity trading.