Board

Executive Director, Center for Agroecology

Darryl Wong recently began his tenure in the newly created executive director role at the Center for Agroecology (CfA) in the summer of 2022. Previously, he was the CfA Research Lands Manager, a position he had held since 2013. Darryl has worked across the center’s production, education, and research programs, co-managing 10 acres of production fields, instructing beginning farmer and undergraduate agroecology courses, and collaborating on faculty field research.  He is concurrently completing his Ph.D. in the Environmental Studies Department, focusing on soil health, regenerative agriculture and organic no-till systems in California.  Darryl has farmed for over 15 years and spent 6 years owning and operating a diversified organic farm North of Santa Cruz.

Natural Resource Economist

Catherine Greene is a natural resource economist who pioneered and led research on the U.S. organic sector from 1988-2020 in USDA’s Economic Research Service. She initiated USDA’s first organic commodity analysis and farm sector surveys, and led research on organic production, marketing and policy. Catherine has received numerous government awards, including the USDA Plow Honor Award in 2011 and the National Association of Government Communicators Blue Pencil Award in 1995, as well “unsung hero” awards from industry and nonprofit groups. USDA publications include U.S. Organic Farming Emerges in the 1990s and Beyond Nutrition and Organic Labels—30 Years of Experience with Intervening in Food Labels. Catherine has an M.S. degree in Agricultural Economics and B.S. degree in Sociology from Virginia Tech.

President of Hirzel Farms

Lou Kozma is president of Hirzel Farms, which is one segment of a five-generation family farming / food processing operation. He is based in NW Ohio, where the farm was established in 1923. Hirzel Farms have been certified organic since 1981 and currently has approximately 1200 acres in organic production.

Lou is currently on the board of the Agricultural Incubator Foundation, working closely with several area universities. Past Board positions include President of the Ohio Vegetable and Potato Growers. Lou’s focus and passion is cover crop combinations to mitigate soil runoff, and to decrease the nutrient loading in the SW basin of Lake Erie. He also enjoys consulting growers in conversion parts of existing farms to organic.

In his free time, Lou works with several smaller inter-city and semi-urban growers to improving soil health and biodiversity.

Founder and Farmer of Orchard Pond

Mary Phipps brings over 10 years of experience in sustainable agriculture. She has been operating her USDA certified organic farm since 2008, focusing on organic produce and value-added products produced in the on farm commercial kitchen. Mary has served on boards and councils for the University of Florida, including the Strawberry Growers Advisory Council. She and her husband and their two children were awarded the Farm Family of 2013 award for the Leon County Fair. Mary earned a BS in Landscape Architecture from the College of Environment and Design at the University of Georgia.

Founder and Farmer of April Joy Farm

April Jones Thatcher is founder and farmer of April Joy Farm, a first generation, diversified farm near Ridgefield, WA. Her WSDA certified organic farm has served wholesale and retail customers in Clark County since 2009. April has an undergraduate degree in civil engineering and an M.B.A. in entrepreneurship. She is passionate about soil health, livestock welfare, and nurturing community.

Professor of Soil and Environmental Chemistry Director, Organic Agriculture and Biogas Production

Dr. Joe K. Kpomblekou-A is a Professor of Soil and Environmental Sciences in the College of Agriculture, Environment and Nutrition Sciences at Tuskegee University. He holds a Ph.D. degree from Iowa State University in Soil Science. His present research emphasis is on fate and kinetics of nitrogen (N), sulfur (S), and phosphorus in the ecosystem, chemistry and biochemistry of N and S in animal waste-amended soils including the effect of trace elements on biochemical reactions in the ecosystem. The ultimate goal of his research is to gain fundamental knowledge that will aid in the development of management practices that prevent the accumulation of contaminants in the ecosystem.

Dr. Kpomblekou-A is in charge of the organic agriculture and biogas production program at Tuskegee University; together with other scientists at four land-grant universities (Auburn University, Mississippi State University, North Carolina State University, and Oregon State University) and Alabama Sustainable Agriculture Network are promoting organic agriculture throughout the Southeast United States.

Vice Chair & Board Secretary

Tim Schultz serves as Executive Vice President of Operations for Lundberg Family Farms, a third-generation family business and leading organic rice producer in the U.S. In this role, Tim oversees Lundberg’s operations from seed to finished product shipping.

Tim has been a long-time supporter of OFRF and has served on its board since 2016. He is a passionate advocate for organic agriculture and also serves on the OTA’s Organic PAC advisory board, which raises funds to support organic priorities in Congress. Tim is also active in supporting family businesses around the world and chairs the Industry Board for the Drucker School’s Global Family Business Institute.

Tim received his bachelor’s degree from Cal Poly, Pomona, and his MBA from the Drucker School of Management. Prior to joining Lundberg, Tim had a 20+ year career in health care, where he worked with physicians, hospitals, and insurance companies in building integrated health systems.

Treasurer / Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group

Keith is currently the Program Director for Southern SAWG, after serving in several other capacities for the organization since 1993.  He has coordinated the development and implementation of thousands of conference sessions and training projects to meet the needs of family farmers and community-based organizations in the South.  Prior to his work with Southern SAWG, Keith was the marketing manager for the Ozark Organic Growers Association, a coop of small organic farmers in the Ozarks bioregion.  In the 1980s he helped develop a sustainable training farm in mid-Missouri and also managed an organic farm in northern California, producing apples, raspberries and Asian pears.  He grew up in a farming community in northern Iowa.

Associate Professor of Food Studies, New York University

Carolyn Dimitri is an Associate Professor of Food Studies at New York University.  Prior to joining the NYU faculty, Dr. Dimitri worked as a research economist at the Economic Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture. Dr. Dimitri has published extensively on the distribution, processing, retailing, and consumption of organic food.  She earned a PhD in Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a BA in Economics from SUNY Buffalo.

Crager Hager Farm

Board Chair

Bryan Hager and his wife Wendy own Crager Hager Farm, a diversified fruit and vegetable farm in Carroll County, Georgia. Crager Hager Farm sells at farmers markets, local restaurants, and to a regional wholesaler. The farm is certified organic and is working to reduce tillage and use permaculture principles. For the past fifteen years Bryan has been working to promote farms and preserve farm land in Carroll county. He is president of the board of Cotton Mill Farmers Market, served on the Carroll County Farmland Preservation Advisory Committee, the board of Farmers Fresh Food Network, and was a member of the Advisory committee for the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at UGA.

Bryan’s current focus is on improving the sustainability of America’s farming and food system by involving new people in growing food, rebuilding the local food system and developing low impact ways to grow food.