Dairy Management Inc. and the U.S. Dairy Export Council announced the promotion of Krysta Harden from chief operating officer to President and CEO. Harden was named COO in May 2020. During that time, she continued her role as executive vice-president of global environmental strategy for DMI, which manages the national dairy checkoff for 34,000 dairy farmers. Harden succeeds former USDEC President and CEO Tom Vilsack, who has been confirmed as secretary of agriculture in the Biden administration. Harden becomes the third president and CEO to lead USDEC since its founding by DMI in 1995 and is its first female chief executive. Before joining DMI, Harden served as Chief Sustainability Officer with Corteva and DuPont. Harden also spent seven years working with Vilsack at USDA. Harden states she will continue the aggressive approach established by Vilsack at the organization “engaging USDEC member companies, exporters, and dairy producers in export market development efforts.”
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